People across Mississippi got into the scratch-off fever Monday as
lottery tickets went on sale for the first time in the state.For decades
Mississippi was one of only six states without a lottery. There was
strong opposition from politically powerful churches. People often drove
to neighboring states such as Louisiana to buy tickets there.Get more
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Now people are driving to Mississippi to buy tickets, said Mohamad
Amro, who owns the Tenn Tom Express in Brooksville near the border with
one of the remaining states that does not have a lottery — Alabama.
“We are getting a lot of customers from Alabama,” he said, speaking
about the customers he’s seen since the gas station and store started
selling the tickets around 9 a.m. And customers are already making
financial plans, he said: “They are saying what they are going to do
with their money after they win.”
The tickets are available in roughly 1,200 convenience stores and
other sites across the state.Democratic state Rep. Alyce Clarke of
Jackson has been pushing for years to bring a lottery to Mississippi.
She bought a ceremonial first ticket at a RaceWay store and gas station
in south Jackson.
“It feels great. Finally, it becomes a reality. And it just goes to
show you what happens if you don’t give up,” Clarke said. “Sometimes you
have to try and try and try again.”The state had resisted a lottery for
years until lawmakers in 2018 authorized a lottery as a way to finance
road maintenance and infrastructure needs. At the time, the state had
been forced to close hundreds of unsafe bridges.
For the first ten years, the first $80 million a year from lottery
revenue will go to infrastructure needs. After the $80 million benchmark
is hit, the rest goes to education. After the ten-year period is over,
the first $80 million will go to the state’s general fund with the
remainder continuing to go toward education.
Clarke had been pushing for all the money to go to education. She
said she was disappointed with the way the money was apportioned but
that the roads and bridges also needed investment.
Right now, people can play four different types of games, and the
Mississippi Lottery Corporation plans to introduce new games in the
coming weeks. On January 30, tickets for both Mega Millions and
Powerball will go on sale. Winners can remain anonymous.
At the Stop & Go Foodmart in Picayune, owner Hiren Bhakta said
people have been talking about the sales for weeks. In this corner of
southwestern Mississippi, residents wanting to buy lottery tickets can
easily pop across the border to towns in Louisiana like Pearl River and
buy tickets there. Bhakta hopes that traffic will now stay in
Mississippi.
“People have been going to the state lines to get tickets, so
they’ve heard about it and are excited about how we don’t have to go to
the state line anymore,” he said. “We can get everything here in
Mississippi.”
In Brooksville, Amro said if he had the choice he wouldn’t sell the
tickets because he’s not sure it’s worth the expense; he had to hire an
extra employee specifically to sell the tickets. But since other stores
are selling the tickets he needed to remain competitive. But if someone
is going to win big, he hopes they buy the ticket at Tenn Tom Express.
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