Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, the Father of the Arkansas Lottery, is speaking to a meeting of the Lottery Commission this afternoon. I’m guessing an emphasis on an expeditious startup — for the additional money it will raise — would be part of the discussion today after yesterday’s legislative slowdown.

Max’s guess was spot on.  Halter essentially thanked the lottery commission for all their hard work.  He reminded them that serving on such a board, without pay, could be a thankless job and that cricism would naturally come.  You might remember that Halter himself criticized high lottery salaries a few weeks back.  Taking questions from the press, Halter said he believed the different governing mechanisms (the lottery commission, the legislative oversight committee) were doing their jobs.  He also said he would like to see the lottery up and running by the Sept. 28 start date proposed by Intralot.  He reiterated that the main focus of the lottery is to fund scholarships and the sooner it started generating revenue the better. 

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— Gerard Matthews

See more on the jump, including details from the commission meeting and information regarding the banking request for proposal which opened for bids today.

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