Fearful of the risks associated with international participation in the Powerball lottery, on March 10, 2021, lawmakers in Idaho rejected the legislation that would have made it possible for the lottery to continue running in this state even after two new countries joined in. Sadly, this means the end of a beloved game that has been played in Idaho for over 30 years.

What Caused the Rift?

The hard decision to pull out of the lottery was made after Powerball announced its plans to expand the number of participants by taking in two foreign countries – Australia in 2021 and Great Britain in 2022. This would have gone against Idaho’s active law, which only allows lotteries played by people of the USA and Canada.

As a result, a group of lawmakers on the Legislature’s House State Affairs Committee voted 10-4, killing the bill that proposed changing the corresponding state law to enable the lottery to go on in Idaho.

What Is Powerball?

Powerball is one of the most beloved lotteries played in the United States, with tickets being available for sale in 45 different states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. Ironically, three decades ago when Powerball just began in the USA, Idaho was among the first to join the game.

Powerball has twice-weekly drawings that take place every Wednesday and Saturday. During these, an appointed person randomly picks out five white balls in the range of 1 to 69 from a rotating drum and then one red Powerball numbered 1 to 26 from another spinning drum. Matching the red Powerball alone (i.e. no white balls) will bring players a cash prize of $4. 

In January 2021, someone in Maryland got all six numbers right and won a whopping $731.1 million. This was the fourth-largest jackpot in the history of the Powerball lottery and the sixth-biggest main lottery prize ever won in the USA.

Why Is Powerball Important to Idaho?

The people of Idaho spend an average of $28 million per year to play the popular lottery. Almost half of those funds remain in the state and are channeled to support public schools, colleges, and universities. Even though other lottery games will remain to replenish the state’s budget for education, the loss of an estimated $14 million a year from Powerball will be a rather incapacitating circumstance.

The primary motivation behind the lawmakers’ decision to shut down the lottery in Idaho was that, with two new countries playing, the chances of Idaho residents to win would be significantly decreased.

Jeff Anderson, the director of the Idaho Lottery, said at the committee meeting that decided the fate of Powerball in this state that the international expansion was intended to attract new players and increase the potential jackpot volume. He further explained that – even with new countries playing the game – the winning odds were the same for everyone and everywhere. At present, the overall chances of winning a prize in this lottery are 1 in 24.9, while the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

Some of the committee members brought up their fears about Powerball ending up being offered in countries like Russia or China. To which Mr. Anderson commented that the lottery would not expand to include countries whose legal systems were crucially different from the legislation of the United States.

Another member at the same committee meeting said they worried about how the powers and authority would be shared within the Multi-State Lottery Association with two new countries now involved in the lottery.

Representative Heather Scott pointed out that no Idahoan had won a Powerball jackpot in the previous ten years, and bringing in two new countries would expand the pool of players, reducing the state residents’ chances of winning even further. Ms. Scott also noted that the Australian and British lottery organizations might choose to donate some of the profits from the lottery towards supporting the causes her party was strongly opposed to.

How Does It End?

Ultimately, the committee voted down the legislation at 10 to 4. The last Powerball drawing is to take place on August 23, 2021, after which the lottery is discontinued in this state.

The Idaho Lottery released a statement summarizing the committee’s verdict. In it, it says that while the bill that is so important for so many residents of Idaho did not go through, the work with the Legislature will continue, and the lottery officials “remain hopeful for a solution” that will allow keeping one of the most beloved games in the state. 

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