Lottery Facts -- Lousy Economics

1. Rather than pump money into the economy, lotteries actually draw money
out, as people buy tickets with money they otherwise might have spent at
pre-existing businesses. A survey of 1,200 California stores taken by the
California Grocers Association reported an average decline in food sales of
7 percent since the imposition of the California lottery.

2. States only get about a third of all lottery revenues. Thus, for
Tennessee to get the often-projected $200 million in lottery money,
Tennessee businesses will have to forego over $600 million in sales
revenues. On top of that, state government will miss out on $36 million in
sales tax revenues.

3. A lottery in Tennessee may make a big problem get even worse. Six of the
16 counties having populations above 25,000 with the highest bankruptcy
rates in the nation in 1996 were located near the 10 casinos in Tunica,
Miss. With a rate nearly four times higher than the national average,
Shelby County (Memphis) topped the list. Not coincidentally, Memphis then
ranked as the number six "casino feeder market" in the country, producing
six million casino visits in 1996.


Information from "Keep Tennessee Gambling Free"
A Resourse of the Baptist & Reflector


Be Informed!
Vote NO on the Tennessee Lottery Nov. 5!



Don Harris
Women's Sports Information Director
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
www.GoMocs.com
Phone: (423) 425-4618
FAX: (423) 425-4610