Arkansas Lottery Pays Less Than 19% to Scholarships in FY 2016

Arkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery completed Fiscal Year 2016 a few days ago, and the numbers don’t look good.

The lottery posted its financial report for the month of June today. Altogether, the lottery took in more than $456.3 million from July 2015 – June 2016, but paid less than $85.4 million to scholarships.

That means less than 19 cents of every dollar the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery made in the past year actually went to the scholarships. The rest went elsewhere.

The Arkansas Lottery continues to have some of the highest administrative costs in the country; and while the average state lottery budgets about 30% of its gross revenue for education programs, the Arkansas Lottery consistently budgets less than 20%.

Below is a breakdown of the Arkansas Lottery’s scholarship figures for Fiscal Year 2016.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July, 2015 $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%
May 38,485,146.05 6,606,164.94 17.2%
June 34,983,951.24 11,249,220.37 32.2%
Total $456,325,811.35 $85,384,111.23 18.7%

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AR Lottery Made More Money, But Spent Less on Scholarships in May

Arkansas Lottery

The Arkansas Lottery released its financial report for the month of May today.

According to the report, the Arkansas Lottery took in roughly $38.5 million, but paid $6.6 million to college scholarships; that comes to 17.2% of the Lottery’s gross revenue–less than half what our neighbors to the south in Louisiana allocate with their lottery, and 2.5% worse than the Lottery’s scholarship funding percentages in April.

In fact, the Arkansas Lottery spent some $786,000 less on scholarships in May than it did in April, despite the fact lottery revenue went up nearly $1 million during that same time.

These reports tell the same story every month: The Arkansas Lottery has been a disaster, as far scholarship funding is concerned, and the solutions lottery officials offer usually revolve around spending more money on advertising or rolling out new lottery games.

The Arkansas Lottery may close Fiscal Year 2016 at the end of this month with $85 million or so allocated for scholarship funding. To make that money, however, the Arkansas Lottery will have enticed Arkansans to spend–and lose–nearly half-a-billion dollars since last July.

Below is a breakdown of the Arkansas Lottery’s scholarship allocations for Fiscal Year 2016.

Month Gross Lottery Revenue Paid to Scholarships % Gross Revenue
July, 2015 $ 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%
May 38,485,146.05 6,606,164.94 17.2%
Total $ 421,341,860.11 $ 74,134,890.86 17.6%

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Report: Nearly 50,000 Arkansans Have Gambling Problem

Arkansas Lottery, ,

Poker_cards_and_chipsRecently we wrote about the Arkansas Lottery’s financial figures for the month of April, and how the Arkansas Lottery–once again–spent a pathetic percentage of its gross revenue on college scholarships.

While the Arkansas Lottery may not be contributing heavily to education, some believe it may be contributing heavily to a serious problem: Gambling addiction.

The National Council on Problem Gambling released a report late last year estimating that as many as 1 in 45 Arkansas adults (2.2% of the adult population in Arkansas) suffers from problem gambling. That is nearly 50,000 adults statewide.

The report notes,

When this lottery was set up in 2009, legislators set aside $200,000 annually for problem gambling treatment and education. In early 2015 legislators eliminated this funding, resulting in Arkansas being one of only 12 U.S. states that does not provide dedicated funding for problem gambling services.

An estimated 2.2% of Arkansas adult residents (49,728 citizens) are believed to manifest a gambling disorder (1 in every 45 adults). Gambling disorders carry widespread physical, social and financial consequences for individuals, their families and communities. These preventable problems result in millions of dollars each year spent on health care, criminal justice and social welfare systems. In addition to these measureable costs, the human costs are immeasurable. . . . .

In 2013, Arkansas ranked near the bottom of states with dedicated problem gambling service funding (ranked 30th out of 39 states with funding designated for problem gambling services). As a result of 2015 legislative action, Arkansas now ranks last with $0 public funds to prevent or treat gambling addiction.

When the Arkansas Legislature first directed the Lottery to pay $200,000 each year for a problem gambling helpline, our concern was $200,000 might not be enough money fund an adequate problem gambling program.

Helping people with gambling problems requires much more than simply answering a telephone; it’s about providing support and resources necessary to help people overcome their gambling addictions. That’s why it was so troubling to see the Arkansas Legislature cut off funding for the helpline last year.

I’m sure gambling in Hot Springs and West Memphis is contributing to Arkansans’ gambling addictions. But since the State of Arkansas entices people to gamble through the Arkansas Lottery, the State of Arkansas has a responsibility to ensure Arkansans are not being harmed by government-run gambling.

One way to do that is to reinstate funding for services designed to help people who suffer from gambling disorders–like the problem gambling help line.

You can read the NCPG’s full report here.

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