Article XV, Section 4 of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post, we take a look at Section 4 of Article XV of the Oregon State Constitution.  Article XV is entitled "Miscellaneous".  Section 4 has a pre-amble and deals with the proceeds from the State Lottery.  Personally, the State lottery to me seems to be a stupidity tax.  When you look at the odds, the expectation values are always below (often well below) $1.00.  Certain lotteries are really about donation rather than gambling, but the vast majority sell this dream that you will beat the 300 million to one odds and be rich, famous and never again have to work a day in your life much less clear the dinner table.  But I digress...

Preamble

The ballot initiative included a preamble which basically said a lot of feel-good things about parks and the outdoors and how it is an integral part of the Oregon psyche and further provides health and economic benefits.

Subsection (1)

This subsection states that other than the approved instances in this section, lotteries are otherwise prohibited.

Subsection (2)

This subsection authorizes church bingo nights and similar kinds of social pursuits.  The Legislature has to enact rules specifying the kinds of organizations and lotteries which are to be regulated.

Subsection (3)

This subsection creates the State Lottery Commission.  The money (really net profit) from the State Lottery shall be used for prescribed purposes.

Subsection (4)

The first part of this subsection defines the board of the State Lottery Commission.  Then the position of Director is defined.  The Director runs the State Lottery. Finally, in this section, some payouts of funds are defined to support those purposes mentioned in the Preamble.

Subsection (5)

This subsection limits the size of the Education Stability fund and also directs some of the proceeds to be used for the matching school capital fund defined in Article XI-P.

Subsection (6)

This subsection defines some circumstances where a limited portion of the fund can simply be made available for operating expenses of the education system.  These circumstances involve downturns in economic activity and cooperation between the legislative and executive branches.

Subsection (7)

This just says that the Legislature can write laws to determine who can determine that the conditions required in subsection (6) have been fulfilled.

Subsection (8)

This subsection specifies that 15% of the fund is to be expended on parks and environmental improvements.

Subsection (9)

This subsection defines that only one State Lottery can operate in the State of Oregon.

Subsection (10)

This subsection prohibits casinos to be authorized by the state.