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New Jersey Decides on Budget, Lotto to Resume

TRENTON, N.J. -- A state budget has been decided for New Jersey, meaning that the hundreds of convenience stores can begin selling lotto tickets to its consumers again.

CSNews Online reported on July 5 that the state was set lose $2.2 million per day in revenue with the lottery shutdown. Along with the state, convenience stores lost money from the stoppage. Retailers of the state lottery get a 5 percent commission on the sale of every $1 ticket.

The Associated Press reported that c-stores have not only lost the hundreds of dollars in lotto sales, but the other items that people purchase when they go in for their Mega Millions and Jersey Cash 5 tickets.

Piyush Patel told the AP "People that come in to buy the lottery also buy other things. Now that they're not here, I'm not selling to them." He estimates that he has lost $1,500 since the lotto was shut down on last Saturday, and his total business may be off by 30 percent.

"They have to reopen the lottery," Raj Sing, owner of a c-store in Brick, N.J. told the AP "I don’t want to lose my business, this is all I have." Sing believes that he has lost more than $700 per day since the lotto was stopped.

Other Jersey c-store owners feel the same way. At the peak of rush hour, Roberta Pryne's store stood empty. "It's killing me," she told the AP.

As of press time, there has been no announcement of the date that lotto sales will resume. But Patel feels that the shutdown will have lasting effects. He told the AP that he fears that customers who play the lotto will be fine without it, leaving $20 to $50 in their pockets, instead of c-stores registers.

Lawmakers disagreed with a 1 percent sales tax increase for consumers that would help deflate the high property taxes the state pays. Because an agreement could not be reached by July 2, Gov. Jon Corzine decided to shut down any "non-essential" state operations.
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