Writer
While we all want to be the big winner when the Powerball jackpot grows to over $1.33 billion, there is always a silver lining when things don't work out as planned.
The jackpot-winning Powerball ticket for the April 6 drawing was not sold in Virginia. However, the state definitely benefited from all the excitement the big jackpot run brought.
The Powerball jackpot run
This latest Powerball jackpot run, which ended with one lucky ticket from Oregon matching all the winning numbers for the April 6 drawing, started back in January. There were 41 drawings that took place before it ended, with the $1.33 billion drawing on April 6.
During that run, the Virginia Lottery announced that sales of Powerball tickets in the state generated an estimated $24.2 million in profit. The state law in Virginia requires all of that profit to go to K-12 public education in the Commonwealth.
K-12 public education in Virginia
According to the Virginia Lottery, any profit made from the sale of Powerball tickets in the state goes to K-12 public education in the state. While they made an estimated $24.2 million from the latest Powerball jackpot run, they raised way more in Fiscal Year 2023.
During that time, the Lottery raised more than $867 million for K-12 education. Shockingly, that only makes up approximately 10 percent of Virginia's total K-12 school budget.
While all Virginia Lottery profits currently are being used for K-12 public education in the state, that wasn't always the case. The state-operated lottery began in 1987 in Virginia, and lottery proceeds were to be used as determined by the General Assembly.
In 1989, the Lottery proceeds went to capital construction projects. From 1990 to 1998, the state's General Fund received the Lottery proceeds. Then, in 1999, an amendment to the state budget started sending the Lottery proceeds to local public school divisions that were solely used for educational purposes.
Finally, in 2000, Virginia voters approved the creation of the State Lottery Proceeds Fund. This is now a permanent part of Virginia's Constitution and directs all Virginia Lottery profits to be used solely for educational purposes.
Other big Powerball winners
Besides the schools coming out winners in Virginia, there were also more than 117,000 Virginia Powerball tickets that won prizes in the April 6 drawing. For that drawing, the winning white ball numbers were 22, 27, 44, 52, and 69, and the Powerball number was 9.
Of those 117,000+ winning tickets, five of them happened to win $50,000. Two of those $50,000-winning tickets were purchased online, and the other three tickets were bought at:
- Food Lion, located at 11010 Kentucky Springs Road in Mineral.
- IGA Express, located at 344 Salem Avenue in New Castle.
- Wawa, located at 9471 Liberia Avenue in Manassas.
Unclaimed Virginia Lottery prizes
While the profits from lottery sales in the state go to public education, the law also states any unclaimed Virginia Lottery prizes must go into the Literary Fund. This fund provides low-interest loans to localities for public school construction, renovations, and technology upgrades.
In FY 2023, the Lottery transferred $12.6 million to the Literary Fund. Since 1988, the Lottery has transferred more than $350 million in unclaimed prizes to the Literary Fund.
Enjoy playing the Virginia Lottery, and please remember to play responsibly.
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