Arkansas Lottery Gives Less than 20% of Revenue to Scholarships in April

1 CommentArkansas Lottery

Today the Arkansas Lottery released its figures for the month of April, 2016.

The report shows lottery revenue came in at around $37.5 million, and the Lottery put nearly $7.4 million toward college scholarships–about 19.7% of its total revenue for the month of April.

Sadly, 19.7% is one of the Arkansas Lottery’s better figures. So far this fiscal year we have seen months in which only 11% or 14% of the Lottery’s gross revenue went to scholarships. By contrast, the average state lottery allocates closer to 30% of gross revenue for education; our neighbors to the south in Louisiana allocate 35%.

What’s striking, however, is in looking at the report, the Arkansas Lottery actually spent $458,718.44 more than it made in the month of April in order to achieve that 19.7% figure. Had the Arkansas Lottery not spent more money than it took in over the course of the month, scholarship funding would have been about $6,934,118.56 (about 18.5% of Lottery revenue for the month).

Below is a breakdown of Lottery sales and scholarship funding for Fiscal Year 2016, which began last July and ends next month.

So far the Lottery has put about $67.5 million toward scholarships–about 17.6% of its gross revenue– since last July.

Based on these figures, we project the Arkansas Lottery will allocate somewhere around $85 million for scholarships, total, this fiscal year–once again, far less than the $100 million lottery proponents claimed time and time again a state-run lottery would provide in scholarship funding each year.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July 31,665,651.14 5,784,683.09 18.3%
August 31,265,177.55 5,490,094.00 17.6%
September 36,134,389.63 6,624,967.11 18.3%
October 35,261,533.80 6,020,642.32 17.1%
November 32,226,599.28 5,725,139.09 17.8%
December 38,670,746.09 6,425,754.66 16.6%
January, 2016 58,746,249.00 13,831,359.75 23.5%
February 40,790,144.05 4,474,356.06 11.0%
March 40,579,421.05 5,758,892.84 14.2%
April 37,516,802.47 7,392,837.00 19.7%
Total $382,856,714.06 $67,528,725.92 17.6%

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Target Stock Takes Hit Amid Boycott

Transgender, ,

Target_Albemarle_Rd_Charlotte,_NC_(7579989322)Recently we told you about Target’s decision to open its restrooms and fitting rooms to anyone regardless of their biological sex–meaning biological males can use the women’s restrooms and fitting rooms at Target, and vice versa.

In response, the American Family Association launched an effort calling on Americans to boycott Target.

The boycott effort has been very well received, with more than 1.2 million people pledging to boycott the store as of this morning, and now some are noting that Target’s stock has taken a hit in the past month.

Josh Enomoto at InvestorPlace.com writes,

Two weeks ago, the big box retailer announced that its guests and team members can use restrooms or fitting rooms that correspond to their gender identity. According to the Associated Press, Target became the first major retailer to publicly stand up for so-called transgender rights.

At the same time, they drew unwanted attention at a particularly sensitive time, potentially harming the Target brand and TGT stock. . . . .

The decision to weigh in so strongly on such a divisive issue has to be worrying for holders of Target stock. Since the retailer’s April 19 announcement, TGT stock has dropped 6.5%.

As Enomoto also notes, Target stock is not exactly imploding, but it does seem like more than coincidence Target’s stock would take a hit during one of the American Family Association’s most active boycotts in the organization’s history.

We encourage you to join us and more than one million other Americans in boycotting Target, if you have not already.

Also, below is a list of Target stores in Arkansas along with each store’s contact information; you can use it to make your opinion on Target’s bathroom policies known.

Bryant Target 7377 Alcoa Rd Bryant, AR 72022-6204 (501) 776-4360
Conway Target 501 Elsinger Blvd Conway, AR 72032-4717 (501) 328-5739
Fayetteville Target 3545 N Shiloh Dr Fayetteville, AR 72703-5359 (479) 443-5517
Fort Smith Target 4001 Phoenix Ave Fort Smith, AR 72903-6099 (479) 709-8940
Jonesboro Target 3000 E Highland Dr Jonesboro, AR 72401-6321 (870) 934-9661
North Little Rock Target 4000 McCain Blvd North Little Rock, AR 72116-8039 (501) 771-4220
Little Rock University Target 420 S University Ave Little Rock, AR 72205-5246 (501) 801-3412
Little Rock West Target 12700 Chenal Pkwy Little Rock, AR 72211-3360 (501) 217-0200
Rogers Target 2404 Promenade Blvd Rogers, AR 72758-9080 (479) 986-1100

You can sign the pledge to boycott Target here.

Photo Credit: By Mike Kalasnik from Fort Mill, USA [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

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