Chance for Lottery Reform

One thing the California Lottery needs is a strong hand at the tiller, and Gov. Pete Wilson may have found that in naming William J. Popejoy to run the fund-raising game.

Popejoy, who will be the sixth director of the state lottery, was the businessman brought in by the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1995 to deal with the devastating bankruptcy. Popejoy rattled cages, cut budgets and helped get the county on the road to fiscal solvency. That kind of approach is needed now in Sacramento, for the lottery has been troubled since soon after it was approved by the voters in 1984. In the election campaign it had been billed as fiscal salvation for California schools.

The lottery has never been the major supporter of public education that many Californians think it is. Half the money bet is paid out in prizes and 16% more goes to administration. That leaves 34% for schools--an estimated $800 million this year. That’s barely 2% of the state’s total public education bill.

As an independent agency, the lottery is not subject to legislative budget controls and oversight. Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) told The Times that California spends more of each dollar for administration than any other state lottery. It will be forced to get a better handle on costs if the Legislature approves--as it should--Bowen’s bill (AB 201) to cut administrative expenditures to 14%.

A five-member commission appointed by the governor is supposed to oversee the lottery but has not always been diligent. Just last January it renewed a multimillion-dollar contract without calling for competitive bids.

That kind of administration should stop. Popejoy does not have experience in running lotteries, but he has business sense and is decisive. Those are qualities that should be welcomed by the lottery’s commissioners, its managers and the public.