State Auditor uncovers issues within Missouri State Lottery Commission

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3/ 1/2012: Radio Story - House approves bill that would create a lottery to benefit veterans homes.

Intro:	The State Auditor finds Missouri State Lottery Commission failed to report nearly five million dollars in advertising.
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Wrap: An audit of the Missouri State Lottery Commission on Tuesday showed a sum of almost five million dollars in advertising went unreported to the general assembly.

The commission says those expenses were reported elsewhere in their budget, but they did not consider them "advertising."

C-O-O of the Missouri State Lottery Commission Gary Gonder says those expenditures were reported under the same system as all other state agencies.

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Description: "Every penny that we spend whether it's a ball point pen or it's advertising is reported, there's just different object codes."

The commission received an overall rating of "good" and Gonder says the commission agrees with all of the audit's reccomendations.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.

Intro:	A state audit shows the Missouri State Lottery Commission violated Sunshine Laws.
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Wrap: A state audit of the Missouri State Lottery Commission on Tuesday showed the commission didn't always follow Sunshine Laws.

The audit found the commission did not properly document some topics discussed in closed meetings.

C-O-O of the Missouri State Lottery Commission Gary Gonder says the commission agrees with the audit's recommendation to correctly document what will be discussed in closed meetings.

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Description: "In order to be able to speak about something whether it's an open or closed meeting you must maintain what's on the agenda and our commission agrees with that."

The audit also noted issues in sponsorships, advertising expenditures and long-term contract renewals.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.

Intro:	A state audit finds the Missouri State Lottery Commission took on many sponsorships that cost the commission more than they gained.
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Wrap: A state audit of the Missouri State Lottery Commission on Tuesday showed the commission spent over four hundred thousand dollars sponsoring community events.

The commission spent more money than they received for a majority of these events.

C-O-O of the Missouri State Lottery Commission Gary Gonder says they decide which events to sponsor based on a mathematic formula, but...

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Description: "Our goal is to get at least a two to one return, not all of our events do that, we continue to work with those events in order to increase our values and look for opportunities."

For example, the audit shows the commission spent over two thousand dollars on a golf benefit in which they only made over a thousand dollars.

Reporting from the state Capitol, I'm Taylor Beck.