State’s Gaming Share Drops

Louisiana’s share of revenue from casinos and the state lottery has declined to 2.4% of the overall state budget as revenues dipped while the budget grew, the Legislative Fiscal Office said last week,

Gambling revenue made up at least 4% of the budget from fiscal 1995 to fiscal 2006. The peak year was in fiscal 1995, when $583.5 million in gaming revenue accounted for 4.9% of the total budget.

Gambling revenue in fiscal 2008 totaled $837.5 million after bringing in almost $882 million in fiscal 2007. The budget has grown from $11.7 billion in fiscal 1994 to $34.3 billion in fiscal 2008.

The Legislature authorized the lottery in 1991 and video poker in 1992. The first riverboat casinos opened in New Orleans and Lake Charles in 1993.

Most of the revenue come from casinos, the lottery, and video poker, with smaller amounts from horse racing and payments from Indian casinos for state police enforcement.

State officials said gambling establishments in Louisiana employed 15,300 in October. The 13 riverboat casinos, a casino in downtown New Orleans, and four slot-machine casinos at racetracks have a total annual payroll of about $660 million.

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