Miles says Kentucky shows lottery is bad policy

Leigh Strope

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000 | 2:24 a.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolinians are being "bamboozled" by creative accounting and funny numbers that show a state-run lottery can solve problems with public education in the state, Republican Secretary of State Jim Miles says.

"I simply want to warn you and all South Carolinians to watch out for flying numbers because as the effort to implement a lottery goes south, we'll see a lot of creative statistics flying around," Miles said Thursday.

Voters will decide in November if South Carolina gets a lottery, the centerpiece of Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges' 1998 campaign to improve schools.

"I don't think South Carolina elected Jim Miles to be a full-time education lottery opponent," said Kevin Geddings, Hodges' former chief of staff who is now leading the lottery effort. "This is just a way to get his name in the newspaper."

Miles started his attempt last month to debunk Hodges' lottery proposal. Miles is serving his third term as secretary of state, an office that registers corporations and regulates charities. He once argued that his office should be eliminated, but when the Legislature refused to do that, he campaigned to keep the job in 1998.

The state's Board of Economic Advisors has estimated a lottery, if approved by voters in November, would generate revenue of $90 million its first year - likely fiscal year 2001-02 - and $150 million the second year.

Hodges wants the money to fund college scholarships and technology in schools.

Kentucky's lottery was chosen by state economists as a standard for evaluating the revenue potential in South Carolina because its economy is similar, William Gillespie, the state's chief economist, has said.

But Miles cited a December audit that said Kentucky's lottery has failed to return 35 percent in total sales to the state. That threshold was suggested in the state's 1988 law creating the lottery.

Kentucky also is considering allowing casinos to boost state revenue. Gov. Paul Patton floated the idea of land-based casinos to raise money for land preservation, the thoroughbred industry and urban renovation. Allowing the lottery or race tracks to have slot machines also has been discussed.

Miles said that's a red flag for South Carolina, which has fought to rid video gambling machines for nearly a decade. Plugs will be pulled on the machines in July after a state Supreme Court ruling last year.