Instead, a lottery once ranked among the nation's top performers is now lagging for the second straight year, trailing its state income targets by $64 million seven months into the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, the company running it has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire lobbyists and a public relations firm with close ties to the governor.
New Jersey lawmakers anticipated receiving nearly $1.04 billion in income from the lottery this year, a number reduced to just $955 million in a revised budget released this month. Having collected an estimated $510 million seven months into this fiscal year, the lottery is not on track to meet even its lowered expectations.
The shortfalls could mean budget cuts to programs directly funded by the lottery system - such as after-school care, programs for veterans and education for the deaf - should the lottery's fortunes not improve.
The lottery's woes are one piece of New Jersey's fiscal troubles, which include transportation funding shortfalls and underfunded state pensions. At a state assembly budget hearing earlier this week, state Treasurer Andrew Sidamon-Eristoff blamed the lottery's underperformance on industry-wide trends and a shortage of big jackpots in multi-state games such as Powerball to drive sales.
