Stop Predatory Gambling

Lotteries are part of government and not a private business

by spgadmin

Georgia lawmakers are pushing the Georgia Lottery Corp. to end its practice of handing out bonuses when teachers and state workers experience furloughs and no salary increases.

The Georgia Lottery handed out nearly $3 million in bonuses to its staffers last year. Lottery president and CEO Margaret DeFrancisco received a $204,034 bonus on top of her $286,000 annual salary.

Since the lottery was created by the legislature in 1992, employees have collected bonuses, but the amounts have alarmed members of the General Assembly because the state is mired in one of the worst economic downturns in its history.

The lottery does not consider its employees as state workers. Yet how is it not a part of government when the lottery president reports to a board appointed by the governor? What other “business” has its president answer to a board controlled by an elected official?