May 1, 2018
The Colorado Lottery division was extended until 2049 due to the passage of SB18-066.
DENVER -- The Colorado Lottery is excited to continue providing much-needed financial support to the state’s parks, recreation, open space, wildlife and public school construction through 2049 thanks to the governor signing Senate Bill 18-066 into law April 30.
“The Colorado Lottery is the only lottery in the nation that commits nearly all of its yearly proceeds to outdoor recreation or habitat and wildlife conservation,” said Michael Hartman, executive director of the Colorado Department of Revenue. “Coloradans can rest assured that their lottery game spending will continue to support the incredible resources that make our state so special, including supporting the capital needs of our state’s great school systems.”
In the last five fiscal years, the Lottery has distributed more than $670 million to its four beneficiaries--the Conservation Trust Fund (CTF), Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW), Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO), and the Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program. During that time, the Lottery has had numerous recording setting years for sales and proceeds. Since 1983, the Colorado Lottery has returned to more than $3.1 billion (end of FY17) to its beneficiaries.
The current structure of the primary lottery beneficiaries has been in place since 1992, when the people of Colorado voted to the amend the Colorado constitution and create the Great Outdoors Colorado Trust Fund.
Since then, lottery funds have been used to create and restore hundreds of miles of trails, protect hundreds of miles of rivers, create thousands of jobs, add thousands of acres to the state parks system, create more than 1,000 parks and recreation areas, and protect over 1 million acres of land.
The Lottery was last reauthorized by the Colorado Legislature in 2002. House Bill 02-1250 extended the Lottery division 15 years from 2009 to 2024. This bill will extend the operation of the Lottery for 25 years until 2049.
To learn more about how the Colorado Lottery, a division of the Colorado Department of Revenue, benefits all Colorado residents and visitors, visit: https://www.coloradolottery.
The Colorado Department of Revenue is dedicated to providing quality service to our customers in fulfillment of our fiduciary and statutory responsibilities while instilling public confidence through professional and responsive employees.