Tennessee Education Lottery Corp. President and CEO Rebecca HargroveNASHVILLE – A new state lottery report that shows record sales undercuts arguments for the need of a bill seeking to slash by half lottery-funded scholarships for some students, state Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, said today.
“One of the most important economic drivers we have right now is getting more people through college,” Berke said. “It is short-sighted and a mistake to cut lottery scholarships at a time when revenues are increasing and we have no idea whether there’s going to be any future problem.”
Earlier, Tennessee Lottery President Rebecca Hargrove told the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee that net lottery proceeds for the Hope Scholarship program were $10 million above projections for the first seven months of the fiscal year.
Lottery officials said the lottery has set record gross sales each month since July. Education proceeds have increased 4 percent since 2005.
Majority Republicans are pushing a bill that would cut lottery scholarship awards for students who don’t achieve both a 21 on their ACT and a 3.0 high school grade point average. Currently, they only need one or the other.