Q&A on the News

Q:A recent Q&A reported that the Georgia Lottery paid out $2.7 billion in winnings last year. How much of this total went back to the state, and how much was spent by lottery players?

—Rob Branson, Brookhaven

A: The Georgia Lottery reached $4.24 billion in net sales and returned $1.097 billion for education in the state of Georgia during fiscal year 2016, a Lottery spokeswoman told Q&A on the News. Players won $2.7 billion in prizes.

Q: How many current representatives in Congress of the 435 representatives don’t live in the districts they represent? —Dan Prucha, Sandy Springs

A: A study by The Washington Post found that at least 5 percent of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives live outside their district.

The newspaper used voter data provided by L2, a political data firm, and research by Target Smart, a data, technology and consulting firm, to identify more than 20 current representatives who live outside their district.

The representatives, the Post reported, include Georgia’s Rep. David Scott, who is registered to vote in the 5th District, but represents the adjacent 13th. Others live in these states: California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, New York, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

“In many cases ... the representatives have served long terms in the House and may simply have seen their districts redrawn around them,” the Post reported.