Several states operate their own state lotteries. In most states, the state lottery commission is responsible for conducting daily numbers games seven days a week. Each state lottery share is stamped with a serial number and must bear the state seal. The commission may make rules for state lotteries and periodically revise them, and shall file the revised rules with the state secretary. The commission shall also advise the director of the state lottery on how the lottery should be operated. It may also make recommendations for a change to the state lottery law.
The lottery’s revenue is significant, surpassing corporate income taxes. The 2010 revenue from state lotteries was nearly $66 billion, outpacing corporate income tax revenues by about one-third. That means that every single person in Delaware, Rhode Island, and West Virginia spent an average of $370 on lottery tickets. This means that even inexpensive tickets can add up to a lot of money. According to some reports, lottery income in Massachusetts, California, and Florida topped $4 billion per year, while New York and Pennsylvania saw revenue topped $8 billion. By the end of 2014, lottery revenue in New York was topping $9 billion.
The lottery is legal in forty states, including New Hampshire. The stated purpose of a state lottery is to generate revenue for state programs. While thirty to thirty-eight percent of the revenues from a state lottery is returned as prize money, the remainder is used to fund operating costs. In New Hampshire, for example, the state lottery contributed nearly sixty-five million dollars to its state’s education fund in one fiscal year, which means over $665 million went to education.