For the second quarter of the fiscal year 2019, the Louisiana Lottery has seen an uptick in contributions to the state treasury, transferring over $53.9 million towards K-12 public education in the state.  Louisiana Lottery spokesperson Dustin Annison said that’s nearly a $10 million increase from this time last year.

“That’ll bring our year-to-date up to $94.6 million, that is about $9.6 million more than the first two quarters that we had last year,” said Annison.

Annison said the record-breaking Mega Millions jackpot from autumn had a big impact on the numbers.

“Huge jackpots absolutely contribute to the increase in what we are able to give back to the state.  That $1.537 billion Mega Millions jackpot in October was huge for us,” said Annison.

Annison says the year-to-date contributions of $94.6 million have exceeded what the Louisiana Lottery had budgeted and expected to give to the state by $16.8 million.

“By law, we have to give back 35% of all proceeds to the state treasury, so any increased jackpots, people get excited and buy more tickets.  It helps us help the state a lot more,” said Annison.

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