A group of Baptists have turned up their fight against the Texas Lottery Commission, arguing that the lotto has proved unsuccessful in raising funds for state education and wrongly exploits the poor.
The Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas has lobbied against the expansion of the lottery and specific parts of the system, including the introduction of a $50 scratch-off ticket, but this is the first time they’ve proposed the abolition of the lottery entirely, according to Suzii Paynter, the group’s director.
“Having a deceptive product that is supported by the state is morally wrong,” she said. “From a Christian perspective, that is wrong. We have a moral aversion to exploiting poor populations.”
Amid the recent Mega Millions lotto hype, Texas Baptists’ theologian-in-chief Jim Denison discussed the potential for lottery winnings to destroy lives. He warned Christians that playing the lotto can push them to seek happiness through money instead of through Christ.
Texas Baptists also opposes the expansion of legalized gambling through casinos and other gaming venues.
Paynter pointed out that two of the states highest-selling lottery ticket locations are Fiesta stores in Houston, and Rep. Garnet Coleman’s district spends $44 million on the lottery a year, more than others in the state despite being a lower-income area.
Coleman has supported the examination of the lottery system, with his own district spending more on the lotto than middle and high-income areas of Houston.
“I don’t know why I didn’t see it before,” Coleman told the Austin-American Statesmen in 2010. “It’s true and it’s real. I see who plays, and it’s not who folks think. It’s not entertainment.”
Legislators in Austin are currently considering the future of the commission, the San Angelo Standard-Times reported:
About $1 billion per year from the lottery goes into a public education fund, after prize money, retail commissions and other expenses. Ticket sales in fiscal year 2011 totaled $3.8 billion, most of it coming from scratch-off tickets.
This year lottery sales are running 10 percent ahead of last year and are on track to surpass $4 billion for the year, executive director Gary Grief told legislators earlier this month. Among top-grossing lotteries in the nation, Texas ranks fourth behind New York, Massachusetts and Florida.
The lottery commission is one of several state agencies before the Sunset Advisory Commission, a panel of lawmakers and residents that recommends whether and how to keep an agency running. The full Legislature will make final decisions in 2013. Chron.com
