Chancy Undertakings

A rather lucky 13 states have a generally painless form of taxation: the lottery. With tickets usually selling for 500 or $1, lotteries drum up huge state revenues. About half is spent on education, aid to the aged or other worthy purposes, and the rest is for prizes and operating expenses. Michigan has grossed $260 million since it started a lottery two years ago, and Pennsylvania each year sells $132 million worth of tickets. New York's annual ticket sales total $118 million; New Jersey's come to $112 million and Massachusetts' add up to $76 million.

But there is one serious problem: all the lotteries may well be illegal. U.S. law appears to forbid the use of the mails or federally chartered banks in running lotteries. Attorney General William Saxbe, who is not opposed to lotteries but wants to uphold the letter of the law, recently summoned officials from the 13 states to Washington and served notice that within 90 days they must either petition Congress to exempt the lotteries from federal law or face court action. Congress has stalled on similar proposals 30 times in the past ten years. Failing a congressional move, lottery officials will either have to avoid the mails and stop using banks for distribution of tickets, or face the fact that their unlucky number has come up. That would be a shame, because the lotteries have proved to be more than a safe bet for supporting state services and easing the taxpayer's burden.

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