The New Mexico Senate last week approved of a bill that would require the New Mexico Lottery Authority to pay million annually to a college scholarship program. However, the bill looks unlikely to be taken up by the House before the end of the legislative session.
With the end of the session looming the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday declined to move on the bill, which appears to write “Stalled Indefinitely” on its prospects.
The bill, approved by a vote of 29-12, would also authorize the Lottery to give away larger prizes and increase its advertising budget, which is expected to raise more money.
Besides earmarking $41 million for the scholarship program, the bill deletes a requirement that the Lottery devote at least 30 percent of its revenues to the program.
Senate Finance Chairman John Arthur Smith, who wrote the bill commented, “What we’re attempting to do is maximize the bottom line to the state for lottery scholarships.”
Senate Bill 180 addresses the problem of declining lottery sales, although critics say it could actually have the opposite effect.
Fred Nathan, executive director of Think New Mexico, a think tank that helped persuade lawmakers to create the scholarship program, said that the 30 percent requirement had create more scholarship revenues and that changing that to $41 million annually could have an unintended affect.
He told the Associated Press, “The $41 million floor will become a ceiling because the lottery does not have an incentive to deliver one penny more to scholarships, even if lottery sales increase.”
Last year the legislature did nothing to change the Lottery’s operation, which prompted concerns by the state’s education officials that scholarship money might decline as a result. They warned that scholarship tuition support could fall by 30 percent by 2018 if no action is taken.
Last year 32,000 college students tapped the state scholarship source, or 90 percent of students attending state college. Any student with a grade point average of 2.5 is eligible to apply.
Some critics insist that relying on a lottery to fund education is “regressive” because most lottery sales are to low-income people.
Guy Clark warns that language in would allow the lottery to employ electronic games, including online versions of games that are currently sold as scratchers. Clark cites wording in the bill that would authorize “lottery instant ticket printing and lottery gaming systems,” and substitutes the word “ticket” with “games” in several parts instances.
A spokesman for the lottery conceded that it was looking at selling online, which is allowed under current law. That does not mean that the lottery is contemplating online play, just online purchasing of tickets. “We have no plans for any video lottery games,” said the spokesman.
