State solon says lottery overdue for fine-tuning
In the more than two decades since its approval by voters in 1992, the Georgia Lottery has been a massive infusion of money for both ends of the educational timeline. It has funded prekindergarten classes, and it has funded the postsecondary HOPE scholarships and grants for academic and technical higher education.
Now a prominent Georgia lawmaker is asking if it isn't time for some fine-tuning to make the lottery more cost efficient.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Wednesday that Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville, who chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has floated the idea of leaning on the lottery's management to cut costs and improve productivity.
"In my opinion," Hill wrote in his weekly "Notes from the Senate" newsletter, "after another look at the performance of the lottery, while it is certainly successful in some ways, and not the worst of any listing of lotteries in the country, Georgia's lottery is also certainly not at the top of the list in almost any category."
As the AJC story notes, appreciation for the lottery's $16 billion contribution since its inception has been somewhat offset by grumblings about the income and bonuses of lottery executives -- concerns that were not eased when scholarships and pre-K programs took big hits.
Hill has no specific legislation -- yet -- but he urges streamlining the lottery system and cutting administrative costs where possible. Those are legitimate concerns his Gold Dome colleagues, and officials of the Georgia Lottery, should keep in mind.
Non-issue of the year
It appears one of the silliest and most uncalled-for "controversies" in recent business news just might fade quietly away.
Georgia-based Chick-fil-A's application for a franchise at Denver International Airport should have been a non-story from the outset. But some Denver City Council members balked at approving the franchise, based on comments CEO Dan Cathy made about same-sex marriage two years ago.
(Never mind that pesky First Amendment thing.)
Tuesday, a council subcommittee quietly approved the contract, to be sent to the full council later this month. The council's only openly gay member said, "I don't have any concerns on moving this forward based on what I learned in the last few weeks."
What the council learned (and could have found out far more discreetly) is that Chick-fil-A does not have discriminatory policies; that its partner in this franchise, Atlanta-based Concessions International, is a minority-owned business that offers same-sex partner benefits; and that existing Denver and Colorado anti-discrimination laws made the council's concerns mostly moot from the outset anyway.
If only this were the worst kind of "crisis" a city government had to deal with.
This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "State solon says lottery overdue for fine-tuning."