Lt. Governor Releases Lottery Principles

You may be one of the hundreds of thousands of Arkansans who voted for it in November, and on Wednesday, Lt. Governor Bill Halter presented how he hopes lawmakers will create a scholarship lottery, using nine principles.

Here are some of them, based on what 42 other states have done: 

Scholarships should be earned with academic achievement, with a GPA to be determined by lawmakers. Halter doesn’t want any current scholarships to disappear, with the implementation of a lottery. That language was already included in the constitutional amendment.

Also, Mr. Halter says Arkansas will need a lottery corporation, which would be governed by an independent board of directors. It would be non-political, and incorporate a lottery director. Members could not lobby for two years after their service, or accept any gifts.

Mr. Halter says the scholarship lottery should be universal, fair and simple.

“In saying universal, we believe that all Arkansans should have the opportunity to benefit from scholarships,” said Mr. Halter. “In terms of simple, I think it's important to stress to folks that we want, everybody -- parent, teacher, student, every counselor, to be able to understand criterion for scholarships in 30 seconds or less."

According to a spokesperson in Governor Beebe's office, the Governor is opposed to some of Mr. Halter's proposals, saying we don't need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the state's scholarship program.