Latest News from State Capitol and 55th District

February 20, 2025

Where Does All the Lottery Money Go?

One question that I am often asked is “where does all the lottery money go?”

It is certainly a fair question, especially during this time of year, as Gov. Josh Shapiro delivered his budget address earlier this month. At $51.47 billion, his proposal increases spending by 7.5% over the current fiscal year.

Pennsylvania is the only state in the U.S. that dedicates its revenue exclusively to supporting seniors. For 14 consecutive years, revenue exceeded more than $1 billion and since its inception, the Pennsylvania Lottery has contributed more than $36 billion to programs that help seniors. In 2023-24, 67% of that revenue was paid out to lottery winners, 8% went to retailers where lottery games are played and 2% was used by the PA Lottery for administrative costs. The rest, 23%, went directly to senior assistance, including the Property Tax and Rent Rebate program, free and reduced-fare transit, the Pharmaceutical Assistance Contract for the Elderly programs (PACE and PACENET), long-term living services, county Area Agency on Aging (AAA) offices and senior centers.

In 1971, the Pennsylvania Lottery was created with the enactment of Act 91. The first lottery game was a 50-cent ticket for weekly drawings for a $50,000 prize and periodic drawings for $1 million prizes, which was won four times in six months. A total of $57.7 million in net revenue was generated by the end of the first fiscal year, nearly double the original projection of $30 million.

A year later, it was expanded to three weekly games, Lucky 7 and Winner’s Choice games and two $1 games. 

The first lotto game was added in 1982. Twenty years later, Powerball was launched in Pennsylvania. Three months after being introduced, the multi-state jackpot game was for the first time won by a Pennsylvanian when a Montgomery County resident split a more than $30 million prize with a winner in the state of Indiana.
 
Locally, nearly $35 million was dedicated to Westmoreland County seniors during the 2022-23 fiscal year, the most recent year available on the Pennsylvania Lottery website.

Unfortunately, lottery officials are predicting a decline in revenue from $1.94 billion in 2023-24 to $1.67 billion in 2025-26. One of the causes for the decline is that scratch-off games are becoming less popular. In addition, draw games such as daily picks, Mega Millions and Power Ball are moving targets because some years, there may be a large number of high value jackpots that draw more players. But so far this year, there has only been one large jackpot. 

There are certainly many suggestions being proposed to address the shortfall.

By law, the Pennsylvania Lottery is required to return 25% in net profits from all sales of traditional games, which does not include online lottery games. Though that percentage is lowered temporarily by Act 97 of 2019 to 20%, lottery officials insist that by reducing or eliminating the minimum rate of return, the lottery will be more profitable.

Another suggestion is the legalization and taxing of electronic skill games. Currently, these games are in somewhat of a legal loophole. Once deemed illegal, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court found otherwise. Meanwhile, there is no law to tax or regulate them either.

Loss of income can translate to loss of services and programs; therefore, I am reviewing these suggestions thoroughly. 

However, these suggestions are part of the same budget proposal presented by Gov. Shapiro, which, if passed as-is, would eliminate the Commonwealth’s reserve funds almost immediately and raid the Commonwealth’s Rainy Day Fund.

Finding ways to raise revenue, through the lottery or any other means, is certainly important. However, we must also spend more responsibly, with a greater respect of all the funds collected by Harrisburg, including your tax dollars.

Here are some additional news topics and reminders I would like to share.

Join Me for an Open House – I would love an opportunity to speak with you at my upcoming open house event! Join me Thursday, March 20, from 10 a.m. to 1 p,m, at my Murrysville office in the Murrysville Community Center, 3091 Carson Ave. in Murrysville.

Report Potholes to PennDOT - ‘Tis the season for potholes on our roads and bridges. 

To help combat potholes and prevent them from becoming a danger to vehicles and drivers, you can report potholes on state-owned roads to PennDOT. Simply call 1-800-FIX-ROAD or visit customercare.penndot.pa.gov.  

Be prepared to provide specific information to help crews find the pothole, including the name of the county and municipality in which it is located, name of the road, and the closest intersection.

Connecting Those in Need with Resources - Do you know about the critical role PA 211 plays in helping Pennsylvanians connect with vital resources across the state and locally? From accessing housing and utility assistance to food assistance, mental health services or disaster support, PA 211 provides hundreds of thousands of residents a free, confidential and 24/7 lifeline to essential social services on which they can depend.

In 2024 alone, PA 211 helped almost 1.9 million Pennsylvanians. 
• This included nearly 250,000 interactions with resource navigators via calls, texts and chats, and about 1.65 million searches using the PA 211 online database at pa211.org. 
• The 250,000 interactions resulted in almost 705,000 referrals.
• The top needs in 2024 were housing, utilities and food. The PA 211 data demonstrates variability in needs in the Pennsylvania region. 

In addition to calling 211, the newly redesigned www.pa211.org makes it even easier for residents to search for local services by ZIP code or category, ensuring they receive accurate, timely and up-to-date information.


Representative Jill Cooper
55th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Jordan Frei
724.875.8450
jfrei@pahousegop.com
RepJillCooper.com / Facebook.com/RepJillCooper