Arkansas Lottery Gives Students Paltry 18 Cents of Every Dollar in September

Arkansas Lottery

This morning the Arkansas Lottery released its financial reports for the month of September.

The report shows the Arkansas Lottery gave college students a paltry 18 cents out of every dollar it made last month, despite selling more than a million dollars worth of lottery tickets every single day.

Since Day One the Arkansas Lottery has put other priorities ahead of Arkansas’ students.

At the rate things are going, the Arkansas Lottery is on track to pay out $70 – $75 million for scholarships this fiscal year — which would be one of the worst years in the Lottery’s history.

Below is a breakdown of lottery revenue and scholarship funding so far this fiscal year.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July $41,239,173.79 $4,523,930.75 11.0%
August 40,899,086.75 4,942,736.97 12.1%
September 36,202,677.79 6,565,973.32 18.1%
Total $118,340,938.33 $16,032,641.04 13.5%

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Camden City Council Weighs Public Drinking Ordinance

Alcohol, Public Drinking,

This week the city council in Camden, Arkansas discussed a proposal to legalize public drinking in part of the city’s downtown area.

Act 812 of 2019 by Sen. Trent Garner (R – El Dorado) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R – Smackover) lets cities create “entertainment districts” where alcohol can be carried and consumed publicly on streets and sidewalks.

So far Mountain Home, Little Rock, Texarkana, Sherwood, and El Dorado have established entertainment districts where public drinking is legal.

Eureka Springs has opted to create temporary entertainment districts during events like Oktoberfest and Bikes, Blues, and BBQ.

Fayetteville, Pine Bluff, and Fort Smith reportedly are considering ordinances that would create public drinking districts in their cities.

The Camden City Council will vote on the proposed public drinking ordinance at its next meeting in November.

Public drinking is a scourge on the community.

It raises serious concerns about drunk driving and public safety.

Public drinking won’t attract new businesses, bolster the economy, or revitalize Main Street. It hurts neighborhoods and families.

That’s why Family Council has put together a free toolkit to help citizens oppose public drinking ordinances like Camden’s.

Our toolkit contains talking points, information about problems public drinking has caused in other states, photographs of public drinking districts elsewhere around the country, and other resources you can use to fight public drinking in your community.

Click here to download our free toolkit.

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