BRONX BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ: REFORM THE NY STATE LOTTERY TO MITIGATE ITS EFFECT ON THE POOR. CALLS FOR AUDIT OF CHECK CASHING SALES OF LOTTERY TICKETS. 28% OF LOTTERY SALES PURCHASED BY THOSE MAKING UNDER $30,000. CALLS FOR MORE DISTRIBUTION OF LOTTERY FUNDS TO SCHOOLS IN POOR AREAS

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BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ ISSUES REPORTCALLING FOR NEW YORK STATE LOTTERY REFORM

WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the Office of the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. November 18, 2019:

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has issued a new report
outlining a set of recommendations aimed at reforming the New York
State Lottery to minimize its adverse effects on low-income communities.

The report, titled “Re-Orienting the Lottery: A Better Lotto for the Poor,”
provides four recommendations that aim to prevent the lottery from
further disadvantaging the poor and to instead help these communities
see the most benefit from the state’s lottery system.

“The lottery has grown exponentially since its establishment and the
state regulations overseeing that sector must be adapted to how it exists
today. We can’t turn a blind eye to state lotteries targeting low-income
and minority communities, and the systems should be changed to help
limit the harm that vulnerable people experience because of them,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

The full report can be read at https://on.nyc.gov/330OJF5.
Recommendations discussed in the report include :

1. Changing the allocation of lottery funds to further support students
living in or near poverty.


2. Banning check cashers from selling lottery games.

3. Requiring the state to collect information about check cashers’
sales of lottery games.

4. Educating the public about the benefits of engaging with the
traditional banking system.

Nationally, lower income individuals are more likely to play the lottery
than higher income individuals, with some statistics finding that 28% of
individuals earning under $30,000 per year play the lottery at least
weekly as compared with 18 percent of those earning over $75,000.

Additionally, low-income individuals spend a disproportionate proportion of their incomes on the lottery.

“Low income communities generate much of the lottery’s revenue but
they don’t receive benefits proportionate to their patronage of the
system,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.

“That money should be spent to support low-income students with
specific programs in schools that are aimed at the alleviation of poverty
in both the short and long terms.”

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