by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
The Lottery Success Scholarship fund will have an $18 million deficit by 2011 unless changes are made to the allocation of funding, according to a 2006 report by the Department of Higher Education.
Grant Taylor, field director for Think New Mexico, said his organization is trying to address the deficit by promoting Senate Bill 364.
"We're trying to get all the stakeholders' support," Taylor said.
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If passed by the Legislature, the bill will require 30 percent of lottery revenue to be deposited into the scholarship fund every month. It would be about a 6 percentage point increase from what is used for the scholarship fund now, Taylor said.
The bill was introduced into the Senate on Monday by Rep. Michael Sanchez, a Belen Democrat.
Representatives from Think New Mexico gave a presentation at the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday in the SUB.
Taylor said the bill is the best solution to the diminishing scholarship funds. The other options include giving partial tuition with the scholarship - rather than full tuition - and raising the eligibility requirements to reduce the number of recipients, he said.
"The reason the lottery (scholarship) was created was in order to fund full-tuition scholarships so that higher education is more affordable and more accessible to New Mexicans," he said. "We don't feel it's fair to change the rules of the game when there are so many students relying on that."
Student Caitlin Wehner said she is glad to have the Lottery Scholarship. It gives New Mexicans a reason to go to college, and without it, they might not even consider attending, she said.
"It's something I don't have to pay for," she said. "I don't think most of the kids that graduate high school would go to college, because they don't have an incentive."
Student Sam Kramer said the Lottery Scholarship kept him in New Mexico.
"I knew I didn't have to go far to get a good education," he said.
Kramer said that because the scholarship covers full tuition, it helps students stay in school.
"It gives people the opportunity to go to college that might not have otherwise," he said. "People who get to school on the lottery (scholarship) have a need, so it helps the kids who have a need to stay in school the whole time."
Taylor said the lottery board needs to be changed to fit the needs of New Mexico students.
Bill 364 requires two additional members to serve on the board, a representative of a four-year public university and a representative from a two-year public university.
"Right now, there's no voice of higher education on the board, and that's the reason we have the lottery is to fund full-tuition scholarships," he said.
Taylor said the New Mexico Lottery has the fifth-highest operating expenses out of 43 states that use their lotteries to pay for scholarships. The scholarship could be better funded if some of the overhead, such as administrative and advertising costs, was reduced, he said.
The bill will eliminate a 2 percent allocation of revenue that is set aside annually for the promotion of the New Mexico Lottery.
Taylor said the 2 percent is not itemized or accounted for in the budget and should be eliminated.
The bill is slated to go through the Senate's education, judicial and finance committees before being voted on, Taylor said. If passed, it will go to the House for consideration.
To review the bill, go to the New Mexico Legislature Web site at Legis.state.nm.us and search for Bill 364.
