#TopCity What?: Where does all of the money from the Kansas Lottery go?

Since the Kansas Lottery began in November 1987, it has provided about $1.8 billion to the state, including about $74.7 million in fiscal year 2018.

“In general, I’d say most of the money from the lottery goes to programs that create jobs or retain jobs here in the state, workforce training and that kind of thing,” said Sally Lunsford, director of public affairs for the Kansas Lottery.

Topeka resident Deb Manning asked #TopCity What?, which answers questions submitted by readers, where all of the money from the lottery goes.

“In the beginning it was a hard sell to the state on why do we need gambling,” said Manning, a local high school teacher, who would like to see more funding for K-12 education. “I may be wrong about that, but I thought that was one of the things they brought up as a possible beneficiary of the lottery was education, and somehow that got changed to economic development.”

Lunsford said that is a common misconception, and she attributed the confusion to the Missouri Lottery, which began in 1986 and benefits public education.