A republican candidate for Governor questions the Iowa Lottery’s decision to spend more on new machines and a new system of dispensing tickets. Steve Sukup of Dougherty says the new system costs more than the old one.Sukup says it doesn’t make sense to spend two-and-a-half million dollars more a year for the new system at a time when other state agencies are cutting back. Sukup says it’s a “wasteful” contract negotiated under democrat Governor Tom Vilsack’s watch. He calls it a matter of priorities and choices.The current Iowa lottery machines are 10 years old — the oldest system of its kind in the United States. Officials say the new terminals are faster and have more security safeguards. The Iowa Lottery’s Mary Neubauersays costs of the new contract are included in a lottery budget bill that Sukup voted for this year. Neubauer says the replacement terminals are coming in below expected costs.And, because of digital and radio links, the new system will enjoy cost savings, and the new contract now will not cost any more than the old one. Neubauer says the current system is the oldest of its kind in the country, and at ten years of age, is suffering technical problems that retailers expect the lottery to remedy.
