January 21, 2002
Even though it is against her personal beliefs, Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery says she will fight in court for a plan to expand the lottery in Ohio.

Last week, a number of anti-lottery groups filed a lawsuit to keep Ohio from joining a multi-state lottery, such as Powerball or the Big Game. State estimates report Ohio could earn more than $41 million per year with a multi-state lottery. Ohio lottery officials say they lose between $200 million and $300 million each year because Ohioans travel across the border to try to win big jackpots like Powerball. This week's Powerball drawing is for $80 million, compared to an Ohio Super Lotto Plus jackpot of $20 million.

The Ohio Roundtable and other anti-gambling groups say in 1988, the Ohio Attorney General ruled that a lottery run with other states would be unconstitutional. The lawsuit says legislation authorizing the state to join a lottery violates the Ohio Constitution, which prohibits the state from delegating authority over a lottery to other states. The lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction blocking Ohio from joining a multistate lottery.

Montgomery tells ONN's On The Square the legal argument behind the case will center around proceeds of the lottery. In 1996, Montgomery campaigned against a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow riverboat gambling. The Attorney General says her personal views will not stop her from doing her job.

"I have an attorney-client privilege [with the taxpayers]," Montgomery says. "It is frustrating to know you may have a personal opinion, but when you're dealing with public policy in the courtroom, it doesn't matter what you care, say or think, because you have that privilege."

In September, Governor Bob Taft announced the state was facing a $1.5 billion budget deficit. State lawmakers passed a round of budget cuts and a number of other measures to balance the budget. Over the past four years, as multi-state lotteries have seen soaring popularity across the nation, the Ohio Lottery Commission has seen declining revenues.

"The states around us do offer multi-jurisdictional gaming that traditionally has larger jackpots than we have, so all of that leads to a decline in sales for the Ohio Lottery," Mardele Cohen, Spokesperson for the Ohio Lottery tells ONN.

However, anti-gambling groups don't buy the state's argument. Reverend John Edgar, with the Anti-Lottery Commission, says it is horrible public policy to "be selling a product that harms our citizens." Anti-gambling groups say the incentive to win larger jackpots will lead the state to moral and legal problems.

Lawmakers say they realize the gravity of the situation. Along with passing the multi-state lottery bill, lawmakers tacked on a provision to create a gambling study to determine its effect on the state.

Last year, the University of Cincinnati's Ohio Poll found 53 percent of Ohioans supported the state joining a multi-state lottery. Out of all the people who said they favor the proposal, the largest amount, 29 percent, said that they favor joining a multi-state lottery because it would raise money for education. Of the 39 percent of people opposing the idea, 13 percent said that Ohio's current lottery is not working or that the money does not go to the state's schools.

Ohioans twice voted against casinos statewide votes in 1990 and 1996.

© The Ohio News Network, 2002. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. AP contributed to this report.