Rising tuition may have solution
State lottery is one answer to students' pleas for help, Halter says
Sarah Morris
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: Campus
A proposed constitutional amendment to establish a state lottery for college scholarships is only one answer to students' pleas for help as college tuition rises and availability of student loans decreases, Arkansas Lt. Gov. Bill Halter said Wednesday.
The proposed amendment, which is to be voted on in the Nov. 4 election ballot, would generate an estimated $100 million in net revenue in addition to existing college scholarship funding, an information packet released by Halter's office said.
The estimate is based on a per-capita lottery play in Arkansas' border states of Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, a Web site for the lottery, www.hopeforarkansas.org, said. The Web site was recommended by Halter's office.
All net proceeds of the state lottery would be held in a trust fund to be used only toward scholarships and grants for Arkansans enrolled in any certified 2 or 4-year college or university in the state.
Halter said the proposed state lottery would be one solution to rising college tuition and the decreasing availability of student loans.
"It's certainly what we are trying to fix. College has never been so expensive or so important," Halter said.
When asked if the scholarships would go only toward incoming college freshmen or all college students in general, Halter said, "Those types of issues would be decided later by a legislative body."
"All the details on who is eligible and who gets it will be decided in a legislative body because you don't want it to be in the state's constitution," Halter said. "That is hard to change."
According to the amendment, Section 14 of Article 19 in Arkansas' constitution would be changed to withdraw both the word "prohibited" after lotteries and the following sentence stating, "No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed."
It is an amendment that Amanda Organ of Tyronza said she would vote for.
"I would vote for it just because it is helpful to college students," Organ, a junior physical therapy major, said. "Being one, I could use all the help I can get because college is expensive."
The proposed amendment, which is to be voted on in the Nov. 4 election ballot, would generate an estimated $100 million in net revenue in addition to existing college scholarship funding, an information packet released by Halter's office said.
The estimate is based on a per-capita lottery play in Arkansas' border states of Oklahoma, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas, a Web site for the lottery, www.hopeforarkansas.org, said. The Web site was recommended by Halter's office.
All net proceeds of the state lottery would be held in a trust fund to be used only toward scholarships and grants for Arkansans enrolled in any certified 2 or 4-year college or university in the state.
Halter said the proposed state lottery would be one solution to rising college tuition and the decreasing availability of student loans.
"It's certainly what we are trying to fix. College has never been so expensive or so important," Halter said.
When asked if the scholarships would go only toward incoming college freshmen or all college students in general, Halter said, "Those types of issues would be decided later by a legislative body."
"All the details on who is eligible and who gets it will be decided in a legislative body because you don't want it to be in the state's constitution," Halter said. "That is hard to change."
According to the amendment, Section 14 of Article 19 in Arkansas' constitution would be changed to withdraw both the word "prohibited" after lotteries and the following sentence stating, "No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be allowed."
It is an amendment that Amanda Organ of Tyronza said she would vote for.
"I would vote for it just because it is helpful to college students," Organ, a junior physical therapy major, said. "Being one, I could use all the help I can get because college is expensive."
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