Republicans at the Legislature have largely opposed the lottery, with many rejecting the bill in 2003 that gave voters the opportunity to decide whether to create one. Since 2004 when the lottery was approved as a state question, Republicans have dismissed any and all efforts to improve lottery payouts. Yet last week, the women who chair the appropriations committees in the House and Senate offered a bill that would do just that, by spiking the requirement that 35 percent of lottery profits go to education.
