However, governments will often frame this money as being for education, or other popular expenditure, as a pragmatic matter of framing the trade-off in such a way as to increase lottery support (Pierce & Miller, 1999). Studies have shown that around 29% of Powerball lottery revenue goes to education, for example (Gandel, 2016)
Thus, there is likely to be a net loss to the state with cross-border lottery shopping. Studies have shown that even when a state does offer lottery, there is some loss when other states offer lotteries perceived as superior (Garrett & Marsh, 2002)
5 billion Powerball, when Alabamans traveled across state lines in numbers in order to buy tickets. The group Tax Foundation estimates that in 2010 states earned $17 billion from lotteries (Hansen, 2010)
Typically lottery revenue is allocated to a variety of state budget items. However, governments will often frame this money as being for education, or other popular expenditure, as a pragmatic matter of framing the trade-off in such a way as to increase lottery support (Pierce & Miller, 1999)
Indeed, lotteries often run contrary to state provisions against gambling, though there are certain differences between casino gambling and lotteries that are sometimes conflated by opponents. Nevertheless, that there are social costs associated with lotteries is a known fact (Rychlak, 1992)
Some gambling is addictive behavior, with higher social costs, while most gambling has near zero social costs, and that includes most lottery playing. Moreover, where studies do exist, they are frequently subject to bias -- for example a study on the social costs of gambling in Wisconsin that openly talks about "the evils of gambling" (Thompson, Gazel & Rickman, 1996)