Oregon Lottery Director, Dale Penn driven by the public interest to offset the financial frailties, submitted his latest proposal to let taverns, bars and other lottery retailers to keep only 15 percent from new video slot machines. Penn made a clever move choosing not to disregard an already existing contract between the lottery and retailers signed last year, which allows bars and taverns a 28 percent of commission. Instead, he suggested a separate compact that would spout the slot machine proceeds into the state's coffer, which will then be directed to the police, or educational needs, pending on the Legislature's decision.
The newly presented commission plan has already prompted retailers to boo against it, resorting to the same old argument that it offers no stimulus to add new slots, which keeps their precious contract with lottery under certain protection. In fact, businesses would not have to spend a dime out of their pockets on new video slots. No internal remodeling would be needed and no spare room would have to be allotted, as the game would be installed on already existing video poker machines. Catering popular slots, means more customers and selling out more drinks and food but also paying out more prizes.
The lottery commission is not required to retrieve the last year's contracts, but can simply honor the existing ones, offering retailers to plant video slots as an entity on its own, tied to a 15-percent commission rate. The retailers might embark upon their threatening strategy of dropping down the lottery but till now very few have been able to say no, to an easy buck. Though, Oregon is far from being happy adding lottery which might increase problems associated with gambling, it does so as an act of police and school salvation.
