Gov. Bryant Lays Out Possible Lotto Timeline

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Mississippi residents may be able to play the lottery at the beginning of the new year.

Governor Phil Bryant says a lottery could be up and running in Mississippi by January.  Last month, the legislature approved the lottery during a special session.

Governor Bryant says he will soon form a commission, then a corporation will actually finalize the specifics of the lottery for Mississippi.

“I didn’t want this to be a government program I wanted it to be something private market is helping drive with the responsibility to the state government so around January, but we were losing around 70 million dollars a year from Mississippians who were buying lottery tickets in Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennessee and we just cannot afford 70 million dollars a year going out of state,” said Gov. Bryant.

Governor Bryant made his comments at the “Appalachia Works” Conference in Tupelo .