"And those buybacks are only done when the state is desperate to upgrade the Interstate"
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Desperate is a word that will be commonplace in the Wisconsin budget vocabulary.

Did the state ever stop to think people may not be gambling. Go get out your pickle jar and every penny you normaly would spend on a lottery ticket put it in the jar. When it's full do one of two things, buy something for your local school or put it in the bank. Then start all over again. Thats how you realy win. Stop gambling the odds are against you.

If you actually loo at the people buying the lottery tickets it is the ones that really cant afford it because they hope they will hit one good one and not have to live in poverty. Yet the plan for this in the first place was to lower taxes well I havent seen a break in mine.

And those buybacks are only done when the state is desperate to upgrade the Interstate segment and the FHWA has other priorities, and when credit markets are good. Tollways issue bonds and thus are built by investors. And when they're finally rebuilt as tollways, the toll booths collect money only for the tollway itself -- to pay off the investors.

Open road tolling....Wake up Wisconsin.

Never mind what it's costing the Wisconsin Lottery, what is it costing the Wisconsin taxpayer in lost tax revenue?
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Speaking of which... if the state would stand up to the tavern league and enforce the illegal video poker machines, or craft legislation to tax them, we wouldn't be so far down the tax hole.

crunchmunch wrote....

"Wisconsin can't put a tollbooth at the border because our interstate roads were built with federal dollars. Illinois built their section using state dollars, so they can charge."
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However...
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"Federal law generally prohibits imposing tolls on interstate highways for which federal funds have been used," however, Congress has enacted specific legislation to allow states to 'buy back,' or re-imburse the federal government, for federal funds applies to a highway segment, thereby relieving it of the prohibition against tolls."

To Bouncerbear: Agreed on that lottery statement. If they would make the breakdowns much more appealing (such as add a sixth number & Powerball to the total of numbers as one possibility) and have the chance to win $20, $100, $5000, $50,000, $250,000, $1,000,000 and THEN the jackpot (or something like that), I'd be much more apt to remember to buy one. None of this $1, $2, $7 crap.

My thought on gambling, get rid of it altogether. The state has yet to go after Ho-Chunk for the millions they owe on back taxes. Gambling just brings more problems.

It seems strange that they wouldn't go after illegal gambling, especially since it's a state run activity, but if you buy a pack of cigarettes over the Internet without paying the social health care tax, your butt is in a sling.

Well maybe if the WI lottery would actually pay out more then 1 out of a kabillion pulltabs, people might play it. Pretty much same thing as the scratch offs. Spend $5 win $1 (if your lucky!)

I think we should put one near the border. Have it setup to let Wisconsin plates though and Illinois plate $10.

Oh NO ! Money going to business owners instead of the state ! Call the police !

The "tollbooth at the border" only supports the Illinois Tollway, not the general fund. And it isn't at the border.

Maybe if the State put a Tollbooth at the Border like Illinois then the State could lower everyones taxes and not worry about the 23 Million it loses to people that own a business trying to make a buck. Just a thought