Lottery: The value of a scholarship -- meeting now
Update (3:50 p.m.): We're now adjourned from the House floor and are convening the lottery meeting now.
Update (4:50 p.m.): Shane Broadway and Robbie Wills have explained the 28-page draft bill that funds the scholarship program through lottery proceeds, and we're now hearing Dr. Joe Purcell present a PowerPoint on the proposal.
Update (5:50 p.m.): We've now debated the bill with questions from members of the joint committees and from other members of the General Assembly. We'll hear from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter next.
Update (6:30 p.m.): Lt. Governor Halter is now making remarks on the proposed legislation (see pic above). Halter raised concerns with the grade inflation section in addition to scholarship reserves and administrative expenses to administer the scholarships. He accepted a few questions, and it's 6:50, and we're adjourning.
Original post: We are still tentatively scheduled to convene House Rules and Senate State Agencies jointly upon adjournment today to roll out the second component of proposed legislation to implement the Scholarship Lottery Amendment approved by voters on November 4. For a variety of reasons, you'll learn today that the draft bill being developed will not include a specific amount for the value of a scholarship. First, we're not in a position to know how much the lottery will generate. Second, since the lottery commission hasn't even been created, we don't know what types of games will be authorized to generate this revenue.
We've come up with a set of funding mechanism guidelines similar to the Revenue Stabilization Act that will dictate the amount of the scholarships based on revenue generated,although this will not be a part of the legislation (included in the legislation but only serves as a set of guidelines). This is based on an Arkansas student graduating high school with a 2.5 GPA (or a 19 on the ACT). Speaker Wills, Senator Shane Broadway and Higher Ed Director Joe Purcell will discuss this graph in detail at today's meeting:
Therefore, if you have a 2.5 and are hoping to obtain a $5,000 scholarship to the University of Arkansas, the lottery needs to generate $122,058,508 (plus another $13.8 million to fund some students in the pipeline and leave a $6.2M pot for non-traditional students for a total of $135,808,508 needed). DF&A has projected revenue between $40M and $60M from the lottery. Lt. Governor Bill Halter has stated that he believes it will come in around $100M annually, and we've recently heard forecasts from some lottery experts that it could bring in more than that. We'll meet upon adjournment in the Old Supreme Courtroom. Click here for more on today's meeting.
Update (4:50 p.m.): Shane Broadway and Robbie Wills have explained the 28-page draft bill that funds the scholarship program through lottery proceeds, and we're now hearing Dr. Joe Purcell present a PowerPoint on the proposal.
Update (5:50 p.m.): We've now debated the bill with questions from members of the joint committees and from other members of the General Assembly. We'll hear from Lt. Gov. Bill Halter next.
Update (6:30 p.m.): Lt. Governor Halter is now making remarks on the proposed legislation (see pic above). Halter raised concerns with the grade inflation section in addition to scholarship reserves and administrative expenses to administer the scholarships. He accepted a few questions, and it's 6:50, and we're adjourning.
Original post: We are still tentatively scheduled to convene House Rules and Senate State Agencies jointly upon adjournment today to roll out the second component of proposed legislation to implement the Scholarship Lottery Amendment approved by voters on November 4. For a variety of reasons, you'll learn today that the draft bill being developed will not include a specific amount for the value of a scholarship. First, we're not in a position to know how much the lottery will generate. Second, since the lottery commission hasn't even been created, we don't know what types of games will be authorized to generate this revenue.
We've come up with a set of funding mechanism guidelines similar to the Revenue Stabilization Act that will dictate the amount of the scholarships based on revenue generated,
| Scholarship Amount 2 yr college/4 yr univ. | Lottery $$ needed less funding from Challenge $20M |
| $1,250/$2,500 | $54,154,254 |
| $1,500/$3,000 | $67,735,105 |
| $1,750/$3,500 | $81,315,956 |
| $2,000/$4,000 | $94,896,806 |
| $2,250/$4,500 | $108,477,657 |
| $2,500/$5,000 | $122,058,508 |
| $2,750/$5,500 | $135,639,359 |
| $3,000/$6,000 | $149,220,210 |
Therefore, if you have a 2.5 and are hoping to obtain a $5,000 scholarship to the University of Arkansas, the lottery needs to generate $122,058,508 (plus another $13.8 million to fund some students in the pipeline and leave a $6.2M pot for non-traditional students for a total of $135,808,508 needed). DF&A has projected revenue between $40M and $60M from the lottery. Lt. Governor Bill Halter has stated that he believes it will come in around $100M annually, and we've recently heard forecasts from some lottery experts that it could bring in more than that. We'll meet upon adjournment in the Old Supreme Courtroom. Click here for more on today's meeting.
posted by Steve Harrelson @ 2/25/2009 12:42:00 PM | Permalink |
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