The Ohio Lottery was supposed to pay for Buckeye State’s public schools, right? Wrong. But that myth, sometimes raised by talk-show yowlers, shows why current General Assembly proposals to expand gambling to replace big shares of Ohio’s income and property taxes is soapbox hype.
In 1987, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring lottery profits to support K-12 schools—something the original 1973 amendment did not do. Today, those profits account for about 11.5 cents of every dollar the state spends on K-12 education.
Thus: Ohio Lottery profits transferred to Ohio K-12 schools for the year that’ll begin July 1 equal about $1.5 billion.
Meanwhile, Ohio’s estimated total state sales tax collections this fiscal year: $13.9 billion.
