PATRICK LEAVES TWO LOTTERY SEATS VACANT FOR A YEAR

By Kyle Cheney
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, FEB. 13, 2008…..Thirteen months into his tenure, Gov. Deval Patrick has left vacant two seats on the five-member board that oversees the State Lottery, which raises hundreds of millions of dollars for local aid and lies at the heart of continuing debate over casinos.

The board, whose other three members include Treasurer Tim Cahill, Secretary of Public Safety Kevin Burke and Comptroller Martin Benison, is required to "oversee and provide final approval of the types of games, the consumer prices of games, the prize structure of games, the methods of prize payment, and the licensing of agents," according to the Lottery's web site.

Cahill told the News Service he has reminded the administration about the vacancies but has yet to hear back. Contacted by the News Service, the Patrick administration said an announcement regarding the vacancies will be made "in the coming days."

"Last year the administration made 431 appointments on 142 different boards and commissions," said an administration spokeswoman.

At an October meeting of the commission, Cahill informed Burke of the vacancies and Burke asked if he had any recommendations for potential appointments. The treasurer said he could come up with some, but as of Tuesday, none had been offered.

To one of the governor's critics, failing to appoint members to a commission that's responsible for a large chunk of state government's yearly budget revenue is "incomprehensible."

"For the governor not to have appointees on the commission, he doesn't have his eyes and ears on the commission," said Senate Minority Leader Richard Tisei. "It's no wonder we passed a budget last year that overstated lottery revenue."

Lottery revenue estimates, which were rolled into state spending plans, are devised by the finance staff of the Lottery Commission. According to Lottery spokesman Dan Rosenfeld, "Commissioners have access to everything we do."

This year, state officials are predicting that the Lottery will bring in about $811 million in revenue for cities and towns, $125 million short of where budget writers pegged their estimate when crafting the budget. To make up the difference, the state is planning to supplement the lottery revenue with $125 million from the rainy day account. That revenue, which goes directly to cities and towns, has become a backbone of municipal budget planning. The Patrick administration has predicted relatively stagnant growth for the lottery over the next several years but has proposed supplementing lottery revenue with potential casino revenue to ensure that municipalities receive at least level funded local aid.

Tisei said that even though Burke, a member of Patrick's Cabinet, sits on the commission, his primary focus is public safety.

"The governor should appoint someone who has a pretty good background in terms of Lottery operations, management experience," he said. "I would urge him to get those seats filled as soon as possible."

Tisei's House counterpart, Minority Leader Bradley Jones, agreed, saying it shouldn't be difficult to find qualified people to fill the positions.

"It's disappointing given the concern that has been attached to the Lottery," he said.

Despite the shorthanded board, Cahill said Lottery business was going ahead as planned.

"It's not slowing us down," he said. "We're still able to have our meetings.

"[Members of the Patrick administration] get monthly updates," he added. "[The governor] has got a lot more things to do. The Lottery's running fine anyway. I don't think it's a top priority."

Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce President Paul Guzzi said Patrick's decision to leave the vacancies unfilled is a show of confidence in the treasurer.

"I think the governor has expressed confidence in Tim and the Lottery Commission. So I don't see it as a major issue," he said. "I think most people realize our Lottery has matured, but on a per capita basis, this Lottery does terrifically well."

Sen. Michael Morrissey, co-chair of the committee that vets all proposals dealing with the Lottery, argued that it may be in the governor's best interest to wait to appoint Lottery commissioners until the debate over his casino proposal is more settled.

"The type of person you appoint to the Lottery Commission today might be different if there's more gaming opportunities," he said. "It may be prudent to wait and see what we do with gaming."

Morrissey said that the governor may be considering whether to merge the Lottery board into a larger board to govern all betting, depending on the fate of his casino proposal.

"Is the Lottery Commission going to oversee all betting?" he wondered. "That raises some questions."

Morrissey said that because it is the treasurer whose "successes or failures will be measured against Lottery revenues," he's "the more critical player."

Part of the problem appears to be a stark disagreement between the governor's office and Lottery Commission about whether the vacancies even exist. The administration maintains that until it appoints new members to the commission, the law says former Gov. Mitt Romney's appointees retain their seats. Lottery officials, citing the same law, say Lottery commissioners' terms are "coterminous" with the governor, meaning they expire when the governor leaves office. Although both sides insisted their interpretation of the law was correct, they left room for the possibility of a different reading.

What is not in dispute is that only Cahill, Burke and Benison have attended commission meetings since Patrick took office.

Procedurally, the lack of a full commission hasn't impeded business, lottery officials said. However, certain circumstances could limit the commission's ability to act.

With only a bare-bones quorum, board members are without a margin for dissent or discrepancy because commission decisions require at least three votes in favor or against to be official, not just a majority of those present.

Although commission votes so far have been unanimous, the situation could become problematic during a contentious vote or in a situation in which one commissioner has to recuse himself to avoid a conflict of interest.

"We send all of our tickets out, for security reasons, via UPS," said a lottery official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Let's say [a commissioner] owns a great deal of UPS stock. They would probably recuse themselves on the vote."

Another possible scenario would be if a commission member were ill or incapacitated and unable to participate in the vote. Lottery officials also noted that even though the commission does make major decisions regarding the direction of the Lottery, most of the work is done by the Lottery's executive director Mark Cavanaugh, a deputy to Treasurer Tim Cahill, the commission's chair.

The Lottery official said that he had seen at least one recusal under Gov. Mitt Romney's administration, but because the governor had filled his two seats on the commission, business was unaffected. Romney, too, he noted, also took his time filling commission seats when he first took office, waiting six months to make his first appointment and two additional months to make his second.

Aside from the two appointees, the Lottery Commission consists of the state treasurer, the secretary of public safety and comptroller.

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