TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Lottery is marking 34 years of operation and looking back at its role in helping fund education initiatives throughout the state.
Since the first ticket was sold in 1988, a portion of every lottery purchase has benefited students and schools in Florida. It has amounted to more than $40 billion to the state’s Educational Enhancement Trust Fund (EETF), including more than $1 billion annually for each of the past 20 years.
The Lottery is also the primary funding source for the Bright Futures Scholarship Program, which has enabled more than 917,000 students to attend college since the program’s inception in 1997.
“These accomplishments would not have been possible without our hard-working and dedicated employees across the state,” said Florida Lottery Secretary John F. Davis.
