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Pennsylvania joins Powerball

Martha Raffaele

Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 | 9:13 a.m.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania will join the Powerball multistate lottery next summer in an effort to boost state lottery revenues that help subsidize senior citizen programs.

Gov. Mark Schweiker, who made the announcement Tuesday, said current revenues can fully subsidize those programs, but the projected costs are expected to surpass future ticket revenues, leaving the lottery with a more than $187 million deficit by July 2003.

"We have some concerns about the solvency of the program," Schweiker said.

Lottery officials estimate that Powerball will boost annual revenues by about $60 million, $35 million of which would be set aside for senior citizen programs.

Nearly 40 percent of Pennsylvania Lottery revenues fund programs for seniors, including two drug assistance programs, reduced public-transportation rates, and property tax and rent rebates.

Pennsylvania will become the 23rd state to offer Powerball; the closest states that currently have the game are Delaware and West Virginia. Neighboring New Jersey began offering the Big Game, another multistate lottery, in 1999.

"We've looked at those counties with easy access to the multistate lotteries, and we saw that when the jackpots got really big, a lot of people would cross over," Pennsylvania Lottery spokeswoman Sally Danyluk said.

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