Gaming briefs for March 23, 2005

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 | 11:29 a.m.

Governor's plan would privatize part of lottery

MADISON, Wis. -- The state would cut half the Wisconsin Lottery's employees by contracting their work to private companies under Gov. Jim Doyle's plan to dramatically restructure the 17-year-old program.

The Doyle administration says private companies can run the lottery more efficiently, boost ticket sales and as a result generate more property tax relief for Wisconsin residents.

Though Doyle also predicts the plan will save the state money, his administration can't yet say how much. The nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated this month that eliminating the jobs would save $1.4 million, but some of that money would be used to pay the contractors.

The private sector would take over the lottery's sales and marketing, ticket warehousing and distribution, product development, special events, and Web site operations, said Jessica Iverson, spokeswoman for the Revenue Department, which runs the lottery.

Table games bill amended

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Casino-style table games would provide the state with twice the revenue originally proposed after the Senate Judiciary Committee endorsed a bill Tuesday that aims to allow the games at West Virginia's four racetracks.

The panel amended Senate Bill 442 to set a 24 percent tax on table game proceeds, up from 12 percent.

It also rejected a proposal to require a statewide vote on the question, preserving local option elections for the tracks' host counties. The bill no longer requires a county's commission to authorize the local vote.

Before advancing to the Senate Finance Committee, the bill was also amended to require the state and the tracks each to set aside $500,000 annually from their proceeds for racing workers' pensions. A second amendment would allot another $250,000 from each for gambling counseling.