Arkansas Lottery Gave 20 Cents on the Dollar to Scholarships in April

Arkansas Lottery

Today the Arkansas Lottery posted its financial report for the month of April.

According to the report, the Arkansas Lottery took in $38.7 million last month, but paid only $7.8 million to scholarships–roughly 20 cents of every dollar it made.

These figures are well below the national average. The typical state lottery pays at least 30% of its gross revenue for its intended purpose. The Arkansas Lottery gave only 20% of its gross revenue to scholarships last month.

Overall this fiscal year, the Arkansas Lottery has spent about 17.4% of its revenue on scholarships. By contrast, the Lottery has spent 68% of its revenue on prizes.

Below is a month-by-month breakdown of the Lottery’s figures.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July 38,237,293.92 8,714,386.39 22.8%
August 35,091,022.09 5,498,714.86 15.7%
September 33,113,391.64 5,773,076.42 17.4%
October 34,061,993.14 5,165,040.54 15.2%
November 37,042,079.72 6,570,979.51 17.7%
December 35,352,159.35 4,596,532.22 13.0%
January, 2017 37,062,291.39 7,947,546.21 21.4%
February 41,176,854.60 6,698,099.62 16.3%
March 43,405,541.56 6,204,704.75 14.3%
April 38,671,617.14 7,845,827.56 20.3%
Total $373,214,244.55 $65,014,908.08 17.4%

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Trump’s Judicial Nominee Could Bode Well for Arkansas

Judicial Confirmations

This week President Trump unveiled a slate of nominees for federal court positions. One nominee to watch is Judge David Stras, whom Trump nominated to fill a vacancy on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals–the federal appeals court over Arkansas.

Judge Stras was originally on President Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. He is currently a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law, and he clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who is one of the more conservative justices on the court.

Judge Stras is generally considered a conservative who believes in limiting the power of the courts. In 2014 he wrote in a dissenting opinion regarding the Minnesota Supreme Court’s interpretation of state law,

It is well established that the judiciary does not write statutes; nor do we amend them, no matter the circumstances . . . Amending statutes is, and always has been, the Legislature’s job, particularly.

So what does this mean for Arkansas? Well, since Arkansas is in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, it means Judge Stras could hear federal challenges brought against state laws–such as Arkansas’ new pro-life laws.

Given that Judge Stras seems reluctant to strike or rewrite state laws, his nomination to the Eighth Circuit could bode well for any lawsuits filed over, for example, Arkansas’ new ban on dismemberment abortion or the new law preventing abortion doctors from selling organs harvested from aborted babies.

Of course, with any judicial nominee it’s impossible to know for sure what the future holds, but Judge Stras’ nomination to the Eighth Circuit looks promising.

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