New Jersey Lotteries

New Jersey voters approved the establishment of a state lottery by a 4-1 margin in November 1969, and the state began selling tickets in December 1970.

On 1 July 2009, the legislature passed a law that would tax lottery winnings of more than $10,000 at rates between 1.4% and 10.8%, depending on the winnings. Prior to this law, lottery winnings had never been subject to taxation.

In May 2008, Gov. Jon Corzine, in an effort to raise new revenue, considered expanding the lottery to include keno. Keno was allowed only in casinos, and many legislators had resisted the idea of expansion, concerned that the move would hurt the casinos.

In June 2013, the Northstar New Jersey Lottery Group (Northstar NJ) signed a 15-year services agreement to operate the New Jersey Lottery privately. Northstar NJ is a joint venture in which GTech and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System each own approximately 41% of the company, with Scientific Games owning about 18%. Northstar NJ made an upfront payment to the state of $120 million. The Services Agreement will run through June 30, 2029. The deal faced opposition in the legislature, but Gov. Chris Christie moved forward with the plan despite objections by the Communications Workers of America trade union and impacted convenience store owners.

In 2015, a bill that would allow lottery courier services passed in committee in the Assembly, but it has not been taken up by the full Assembly.

In 2016, New Jersey passed Bill A3904 that allows third-party courier services to sell lottery tickets online and through mobile apps provided they register with the lottery first. The tickets are sold by independent vendors that accept orders online after buying lottery tickets from official vendors.