Gambling with the truth — again

Last summer, Texas lottery officials got in trouble after it was discovered that they had artifically inflated the advertised lotto jackpot to try to sell more tickets — a discovery that led lottery Director Reagan Greer to resign. And now we're finding out what the lottery folks learned from that experience: nothing. According to an audit report released today, the lottery messed with the advertised jackpot at least three more times after the initial scandal.

The state audit confirmed four times between May 2003 and June 2005 when officials advertised lottery jackpots they knew projected ticket sales wouldn't be able to fund and found three more cases between November 2005 and March 2006 when the agency did exactly the same thing. Though the discrepancy likely wouldn't have affected winners — the lottery policy now guarantees either the advertised jackpot or a percentage of ticket sales, whichever is higher — auditors wrote that the incidents "may contribute to a lack of public confidence in the Lotto Texas game and the Texas Lottery Commission."

Another audit focusing on the lottery agency's human resources department found "significant weaknesses" in employee relations: dismissals without documentation, no grievance policy and inconsistent discipline, among others. Employees said they don't trust management and worry that they might be retaliated against if they raise concerns about issues in the office.

Lottery officials hasn't commented on the findings. If you're interested, you can read the text of both audit reports on the Lottery Commission's website.