Mississippi has collected more than $75 million since July 1 from the state lottery. State law specifies that the first $80 million collected each budget year will go toward highway construction and maintenance, and the next $80 million will go to education. Photo courtesy Mississippi Lottery

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi has collected more than $75 million since July 1 from the state lottery.

State law specifies that the first $80 million collected each budget year will go toward highway construction and maintenance, and the next $80 million will go to education.

The budget year runs from July 1 through June 30.

The Mississippi Lottery Corporation is the private company that runs the lottery. It announced Thursday that the state collected $23.6 million from lottery games in January.

The corporation president, Tom Shaheen, says there was “astonishing growth” in people playing Powerball and Mega Millions games because of large jackpots.