The following editorial appeared at NWAOnline.com on May 13, 2011. To read the editorial from its original source, click here.
Lottery Panel Has No Excuse For Lapse
The lottery commission violated the state’s public meeting law in a disturbingly casual way.
The Arkansas Lottery Commission met twice this week without giving the public notice. Each meeting was a clear and admitted violation of the state Freedom of Information Act.
Mike Wickline of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports on Lottery Commissioner Joe White resigning. Click here to read about it.
HJR1005 by Rep. Clemmer is expected to come up in the Legislature very soon. Under her proposed constitutional amendment, the Arkansas Lottery would be required to allocate at least 35% of its revenue for college scholarships instead of the paltry 21.5% it currently does.
Setting a minimum of 35% would raise Arkansas from almost dead last when it comes to percentages allocated for its lottery’s intended purpose, but that hasn’t stopped lottery officials from arguing that setting a minimum allocation will adversely affect lottery revenue–meaning less gross revenue for the Arkansas Lottery and less money for scholarships overall.
Yesterday, we busted that myth by demonstrating that the Arkansas Lottery could provide more scholarships under HJR1005 than it currently does–even if it suffered as much as a $185 million drop in ticket sales. Here’s a table of additional lottery stats showing how much money the Arkansas Lottery could give Arkansas’ college-bound students, based on different revenue predictions, if HJR1005 passes.