Georgia Lottery Surpasses $50 Billion Mark

The Georgia Lottery has surpassed $50 billion in sales since it began in 1993. A portion of that money has gone to fund state education programs, including the HOPE scholarship and the pre-kindergarten program. Georgia’s HOPE scholarship and pre-k programs have endured cuts recently. Georgia Lottery president Margaret DeFrancisco, who announced her retirement yesterday, says cuts to the programs are not the result of shrinking revenues.

“The Georgia Lottery Corporation is one of the highest-performing lotteries in the world,” she says, “The dilemma has been the incredible success of both the HOPE program and the pre-kindergarten program and the demand on those dollars.”

Both programs are outpacing lottery earnings. Going forward, DeFrancisco says, the lottery will expand the way tickets are sold.