Ernie Passailaigue will officially begin his new position as Arkansas' Lottery Director on July 1st, 2009. Passailaigue was formerly with the South Carolina state lottery.
A later dated June 18th, 2009 from Ray Thorton, the Arkansas Lottery Commission Chairman, to the finance committee, requests a housing deferment of $980.00 per month for Passailaigue aside from the salary that lottery head will receive. But the new lottery head declined the offer.
Since the Act 606 of the Arkansas code permits for games like keno, Passailaigue plans to introduce keno in bars and pubs all over the state. Critics of the lottery like the Family Council feel that this move will eventually lead to the introduction of min-casinos. The Family Council added that introducing keno to Arkansas will not happen without a massive opposition.
Aside from keno, Passailaigue plans to introduce Powerball and Mega Millions in Arkansas. Lottery tickets are expected to be on sale in the state by Halloween.
As lottery director, Ernie Passailaigue wants to name the lottery as the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. He wants to make it clear that the money earned from lottery games will be allotted for higher education opportunities.
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John Sullivan
