Texas governor proposes lottery selloff

Texas is the latest U.S. state to consider the benefits of lottery privatization, the New York Times reports. In his annual State of the State address this week Governor Rick Perry (R) proposed selling the state's lottery to a private firm. Perry wants to use the proceeds to pay for insurance for the state's 10 million uninsured and to fund cancer research, an area in which Texas is a leader.

According to some estimates, selling the Texas Lottery could raise up to $14 billion. The news of Perry's plan comes the year after Texas Lottery recorded it's best year in history, reporting $3.7 billion in sales. The New York Times notes that New Jersey is also considering a similar plan - along with a proposal to lease the New Jersey turnpike.

Critics in both states are attacking the proposals, arguing that a private firm is unlikely to apply the same degree of oversight as local government and that in the end states are likely to get the worst of the deal. Republican opponents in Texas downplayed the chances that the legislation would pass. "I don't know anybody who is supporting it" said Texas Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "I'd give it only a 10 percent chance of passing."