Arkansas Lottery Lowers Scholarships, Approves New Hires, Advertising

Arkansas Lottery

Yesterday, the Arkansas Lottery Commission revised its projections for college scholarships, indicating that, with only days remaining in the state’s fiscal year, scholarship totals would come in around $80.5 million–roughly $9 million less than originally projected.

Lottery officials continue to say the goal is to “raise” as much money as possible for college students, but the Lottery’s actions tell a different story. For instance, at yesterday’s meeting the Arkansas Lottery Commission:

  • Hired an $89,000 public relations aid;
  • Authorized an extra $500,000 in lottery advertising;
  • Hired a security director with a salary of $98,500; and
  • Lowered scholarship projections for the year.

The Arkansas Lottery continues to cut scholarship projections, and yet it also manages to find money to hire employees and pay for advertisements the Lottery has done without for the past several months. I don’t think anyone really believes the lagging ticket sales the Lottery is experiencing are the result of not having a public relations person.

Additionally, the Arkansas Lottery Commission seems dead-set on implementing “monitor games” in Arkansas–despite objections from state legislators and the Lottery Commission’s own projections showing monitor games will not make the Arkansas Lottery a booming success.

So what is really going on down at the Lottery Commission?

Why Are Scholarship Funds Dropping at the Arkansas Lottery?

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The State House Needs God, Too!

Religion, , ,

The following blog post is by Family Council staff member Luke McCoy.

Proverbs 29:2 (NASB) reads, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan.”

If a world were described in which controversial, political topics that had religious basis were no longer a threat to people of faith, would you consider that a work of God’s people or Jesus’ second coming? For many centuries we have seen that when good people do nothing, evil prevails. It could also be said that when good men do nothing, very little good—if any—gets done.

So, why do so many Christians excuse themselves from influencing their local, state, and federal government?

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Senate Bill Calls Abortion “Constitutional Right,” Invalidates State Laws

Abortion, , ,

Late last year U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D – CT) introduced S. 1696, the so-called “Woman’s Health Protection Act of 2013.”

Recently, there has been a buzz about this bill and what it would do.

The bill purports to protect women’s health. In reality it invalidates state laws regarding abortion, names abortion a constitutional right, and opens the door for unsafe abortion practices. Here is how.

S. 1696 Would Likely…

S. 1696 would likely:

  • Overturn Arkansas’ ban on taxpayer-funded abortion;
  • Challenge Arkansas’ ban on partial-birth abortion;
  • Affect Arkansas’ “fetal-pain” law preventing abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy;
  • Undermine our informed-consent and parental-consent laws;
  • Prevent surgical abortions from being regulated in a sensible manner; and
  • Increase access to abortifacients, despite the fact chemical abortions carry significant health risks.

Additionally, the bill

  • Repeatedly describes abortion as a constitutional right; and
  • Fails to acknowledge abortion may be regulated to protect healthcare providers’ rights of conscience or religious convictions.

S. 1696 Calls Abortion “a Constitutional Right”

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