ISSUE: Lottery at 6 years old

OUR VIEW: Popular lottery benefitting the state

Former Gov. Jim Hodges made the push for a state-operated lottery a key ingredient of his 1998 campaign for governor -- and election in which he ousted Republican incumbent David Beasley. He made the case that a majority wanted a lottery and would be willing to amend the constitution to get it. He was right, targeting education as the benefactor of lottery money.

Even as critics continued to charge the lottery is morally wrong and takes advantage of the poorest South Carolinians, the South Carolina Education Lottery was born six years ago.

Its growth has been impressive. January 2002 saw the lottery begin with four instant tickets. It has grossed $5.6 billion in sales since. Today there are 46 different instant tickets and four number games: Pick 3, Pick 4, Palmetto Cash 5, and Powerball.

Of the funds earned by the lottery, approximately 29 percent has been transferred to the Education Lottery Account to be appropriated by the General Assembly to support education. More than $1.74 billion has been appropriated since startup through June 2007.

Higher education programs and scholarships have received more than $1.25 billion. The Endowed Chairs Program at the state's three research universities has received $180 million. And more than 488,000 scholarships have been funded through $929 million in appropriations.

Primary and secondary education is among other benefactors:

* K-12 programs received more than $450.7 million, including $260 million appropriated to K-5 programs. $25.4 million has been appropriated to other K-12 programs, including $8 million designated to grades 6-8 programs, plus $61 million appropriated for new school buses.

* More than $37.1 million has been appropriated to Community Education Programs.

* The Educational Television Network received almost $20 million to upgrade to digital technology.

* County libraries received $13.7 million.

Consider also that:

* More than $33.7 million has been collected in state income tax withheld on lottery winnings.

* More than $647,000 has been collected from players in the state's debt set-off program, most of which is back child support.

* More than $22.9 million was earned in interest by the state treasurer from net lottery transfers through November 2007.

* Retailers have received more than $394 million in taxable commissions through December 2007.

* SCEL players have claimed winnings totaling more than $3.3 billion.

Some will say it all reads like a story too good to be true. But the numbers support agreeing with SCEL's assessment of its history as "triumphant."

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