A bill creating a Wyoming lottery has passed in the House Corporations, Elections, and Political Subdivisions committee. Supporters of the bill said that the lottery would bring money to the state for to-be-determined purposes.
Opponents testified that a small state like Wyoming would not make much of a profit. Wyoming Association of Churches representative Chesie Lee said that’s not including other societal costs.
“That’s not looking at all the negative costs to individual who do have addictions (sic) problems and the destruction of families,” Lee says.
But supporters, like Mike Moser of the Wyoming State Liquor Association, said the lottery is entertainment, not gambling, and there is significant profit to be made.
“The Wyoming lottery would make between 20 and 40 million dollars,” Moser says. Don’t be fooled, lotteries make money, they make money everywhere. There is not a state whose lottery does not make money. Part of the reason we support it is we do competition with other states. Cross border sales are a major concern. The busiest lottery terminal in the state of Colorado is about 8 miles south of here and it does over 3 million dollars a year.”
The bill now goes to the full House.
