Michigan
Lottery News - 2007/2008
February 28, 2008
Governor Granholm
appointed Scott Bowman as the new Lottery Commissioner on January
15, 2008. Under the Michigan Constitution, this appointment takes
effect unless the Michigan Senate rejects the appointment within 60
days. On Tuesday, the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee held a
confirmation hearing and asked Mr. Bowen a number of questions. Mr.
Bowen stressed to the committee that his focus as Lottery
Commissioner will be on raising as much money for education as he
can.
February 4,
2008
On February 4, 2008,
and in celebration of its 35th birthday, the Michigan Lottery
introduced a new instant scratch ticket game designed with students
in mind. The $5.00 scratch-off State of Michigan “green ticket” has
two top prizes of $200,000 and over $6.9 million worth of prizes
overall. However, this new instant game is unique in that it
provides non-winning tickets the opportunity to be entered in second
chance drawings which will award eight (8) Michigan Educational
Trust (“MET”) contracts, which provide for the payment of four years
tuition at a state university.
In addition, winners
will also have the option of transferring the tuition to another
person or family member if desired. The Michigan Lottery will hold
four of these second chance drawings between March and May, 2008.
Players can enter as often as they wish, with each entry requiring
one non-winning $5.00 State of Michigan “green ticket.”
January 23, 2008
According to a
January 23, 2008 report by the Michigan Information & Research
Services Inc. (MIRS), some in the Michigan Legislature, including
House Speaker Andy Dillon (D-Redford), are considering partly
privatizing or leasing the Michigan State Lottery in order to pay
retired teachers’ health insurance costs. These retired teacher
health benefits cost the state approximately $572 million per year.
House Speaker Dillon has suggested this privatization plan as part
of his emphasis on using “non-tax” avenues to solve some of the
state’s fiscal problems. Dillon’s plan calls for setting up a health
care fund for retired teachers which would emulate those created for
retired autoworkers. The fund would ultimately be financed by the
money received from the sale or lease of Michigan’s State Lottery.
August 9, 2007
Michigan Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters left his
post with the Michigan Bureau of State Lottery. He has served the
Michigan Lottery since being appointed the Bureau's seventh
Commissioner by Governor Jennifer Granholm on April 9, 2003. Peters
has accepted a position as the Griffin Endowed Chair in American
Government at Central Michigan University. In his new position,
Peters will teach two political science seminars and organize two
annual forums to address political and public policy issues.
May 10, 2007
All 250,000 of the
most expensive tickets in the history of the Michigan Lottery have
been sold out. Tickets for the new “Super Raffle" went on sale on
May 7, and cost $50. The new game features two prizes of $2 million
each, 25 prizes of $100,000 each and 4,500 prizes of $500 each.
Lottery officials developed the “Super Raffle” after much success on
two “Millionaire Raffles” held earlier this year. The drawing will
be held on June 18, and all proceeds from the lottery go to
Michigan’s School Aid Fund which supports K-12 education.
April 16, 2007
Michigan Lottery
Commissioner Gary Peters announced he will step down on Aug. 10, to
take a public policy position with Central Michigan University. Peters was appointed lottery commissioner by Gov. Granholm on
April 9, 2003. Peters, a Democratic state senator from 1995-2002,
has also said he is considering running for office in 2008 against
Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Oakland County.
