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Friday, April 06, 2001
By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent
HARRISBURG -- Another preliminary meeting between Pennsylvania and Ohio lottery officials over the possibility of creating a combined jackpot game ended amiably but without a deal.
"Nothing's changed," reported Pennsylvania's lottery spokeswoman Sally Danyluk. "It's still an ongoing discussion, but it hasn't been called off, so I guess that's a good thing."
Officials from both states met in Pittsburgh last month to hold preliminary discussions on the possibility of a merged game to jolt lackluster lottery sales in both states. Robert Mars, executive director of the Pennsylvania Lottery, and his deputy executive director, Edward Trees, met with Ohio officials again on Tuesday in Cleveland.
The meeting was "positive," but didn't reach a point of deciding what game could be run as a joint venture, much less if both sides actually wanted to, Danyluk said.
Many questions would need to be resolved before such a game could be created. How would the revenues be split? Who would conduct the drawing? Which state would administer the payouts and profits?
Would a combined game even be beneficial? Some officials wonder if such a game would generate new players and additional revenue or would merely take away from the revenues gleaned from existing games as players switched to the new game.
The possibility of doing a jackpot game with another state has been batted around for several years in the state Legislature, but nothing has come of it except for the two recent meetings, neither of which did more than lay the groundwork for further discussions.
"Nothing definitive came of" Tuesday's meeting, said Ohio lottery spokeswoman Sandra Neal. "Ohio is still doing its homework."
Ohio would need legislation allowing a joint-venture lottery game. A bill was introduced into the Ohio Legislature, but it has not been passed. The bill also was part of Ohio Gov. Robert Taft's budget proposal in February.
Passage of enabling legislation to allow Ohio to join a joint lottery game appears to be the next step, and that appears to be at least a month away, Danyluk said.
Gov. Ridge could probably authorize a joint game without legislative approval.