Why this anti-lottery curmudgeon is eating some crow right about now

Even as the South Carolina Education Lottery began in 2002, I wondered if gambling was an appropriate way to finance education.

The cynic in me also wondered if the promise to help education was just a political ruse to help get the lottery law passed. Really, how much would go into an education fund?

We are now in the 17th year of the SCEL and I am happy to eat a little crow.

Sam Litchfield, chairman of the S.C.Lottery Commission, recently reported that the lottery has done much for education — thanks to the hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians who regularly buy lottery tickets.

To date, the lottery has placed $5 billion into the Education Lottery Account at the State Treasurer’s Office, with a whopping $3.8 billion spent on scholarships and grants for 1.9 million Palmetto State students.

I must confess that none of those dollars came from me because I have never purchased a lottery ticket. Someone gave me one once; I didn’t know what to do with it so I tossed it.

Lotteries are just not my thing. I even cringe whenever the Powerball jackpot rises into the hundreds of millions or even billions. It just doesn’t seem right that anyone should get that kind of money for buying a lottery ticket at his nearest BP station.

Let’s face it: I’m your basic anti-lottery curmudgeon.

So imagine my surprise when I recently got a swell $50 check from the lottery people.

Wait, what? Who bought me a lottery ticket? Well, thanks, bro . . .

No, no. It turns out I was getting a tiny piece of the $1.6 billion an Upstate Mega Millions winner received last year.

That money was subject to $61 million in state taxes — and, per the lottery law, that money had to be refunded to S.C. income tax payers.

In ZIP code order, that same $50 is being mailed to all those who filed state tax returns for 2018 and paid at least $50 in taxes. Taxpayers who filed jointly will receive just one $50 (as a joint filer, I checked).

The Department of Revenue says all checks should be in hand by Dec. 27; if you didn’t get one by then, check with the DOR.

I’m happy for the $50, but it has not turned me into a lottery aficionado, although a few words from Litchfield made me feel a little guilty about standing outside.

“Always remember, when you buy a lottery ticket from SCEL, you’re not just taking a chance, you’re giving a chance.”

So far, a least 1.9 million chances given.

Contact Bob Bestler at bestler6@tds.net.