Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor of California, on Friday signed two pieces of legislation that would increase state lottery payouts, jackpots and revenue, and potentially allow the state to borrow $5 billion against future sales of lottery tickets to help plug a budget hole that analysts say could total $27.8 billion during the next 20 months.
But opponents, like Fred Jones, an attorney with the California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion, say the measures would turn policymakers into "peddlers of gambling."
"It's a bad idea to make the state budget dependent on people losing their hard-earned money," Mr. Jones said.
The two measures will be put to a vote by California voters in a special election next year. If approved, the changes would take effect July 1, 2009.
If voters approve the changes, the borrowing measure will require at least 50 percent of annual lottery revenues to be returned to the public in prizes, repealing the current 50 percent payout cap.