Reboletti Votes “No” on Governor’s Proposal to Lease the Lottery

July 06, 2007

Springfield … Today, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted against Governor Blagojevich’s proposal to lease the lottery. “The Governor’s proposal to sell the lottery for a one time cash infusion of $10 billion is irresponsible and detrimental to the fiscal health of this state,” said State Representative Dennis Reboletti (R-Elmhurst). Governor Blagojevich has called a special session to review his budget proposals including leasing the lottery and taking out additional bonds to pay down the $40 billion pension debt.

Reboletti stated that Governor Blagojevich’s plan to lease the lottery for 75 years would result in a one-time cash infusion of $10 billion. However, the lottery is set to produce an estimated $50 billion over the next 75 years resulting in a net loss of $40 billion to the state.

“I’m extremely concerned with Governor Blagojevich’s plan to sell the lottery. The lottery is a stable source of revenue for education. Without the annual proceeds from the lottery, education would be underfunded by $630 million. The state is constantly trying to find avenues to increase education funding not decrease it,” Reboletti said.

Representative Reboletti also had concerns that the Governor is not being completely honest with the General Assembly on how the funds from the sale of the lottery or the pension bond sale would be spent. The Governor claims that the money would be spent on paying down our pension debt. However, according to the actual bill language, the proceeds from the sale of the lottery would go directly into the General Revenue Fund and proceeds from the pension bond sale would not automatically be used to fully fund the required Fiscal Year 08’ pension payment.

“Unfortunately, the Governor is not known in Springfield for keeping his word and I’m afraid that the sale of both the lottery and pension bonds would just free up money for the Governor to increase state spending instead of addressing the current issues facing the state,” Reboletti said.

For additional information, Rep. Reboletti can be contacted at (630) 530-2730.

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