State lawmakers are critical of lottery employee bonuses. (photo courtesy Robert S. Donovan)
House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans) has filed a pair of resolutions-- HR 1650 and HR 1651-- aimed at ending bonus payments at a time when lawmakers have to cut state spending.
The Georgia Lottery handed out nearly $3 million in bonuses to its staffers last year. Lottery president and CEO Margaret DeFrancisco received a $204,034 bonus on top of her $286,000 annual salary.
Georgia's lottery is among the most successful in the nation, with increasing sales every year but one since the first tickets were sold in 1993. Officials recently announced first-half profits for fiscal year 2010 were up more than $8.49 million from the previous year.
Lottery ticket sales pay for HOPE college scholarships and pre-kindergarten classes for 4-year-olds.
Since the lottery was created by the legislature in 1992, employees have collected bonuses, but the amounts have alarmed members of the General Assembly because the state is mired in one of the worst economic downturns in its history.
The lottery receives no state funding and was set up to operate like a business, with a president who reports to a board appointed by the governor. Its employees are not considered state workers.
