Santa Fe— The bill that will allow the lottery scholarship program to continue to provide full tuition awards for eligible students through the 2014 academic year awaits the Governor’s signature. Senate Bill 392, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Michael S. Sanchez (D-29-Bernalillo, Valencia) proposed to transfer $10 million from the tobacco settlement fund to the lottery scholarship fund. However, Senate Bill 113, sponsored by Senator John Arthur Smith (D-35-Dona Ana, Hidalgo, Luna, Sierra) also proposed to transfer money from the tobacco settlement fund to early childhood programs. During the committee process, the two bills were combined into one substitute bill (SB 113) resulting in nearly $10 million to be transferred from the Tobacco Settlement Permanent Fund to support the lottery scholarship tuition fund.
Over the past few years, there has been growing concern over the solvency of the Lottery Tuition Fund. Without the revenue from this bill, there will not be enough funds to provide eligible students full tuition awards for the 2014 spring semester. Although the funding in the committee substitute for SB 113 provides a short-term solution, solvency issues for the 2015 academic year and beyond will need to be addressed in next year’s legislative session. In light of this, Senator Sanchez and Representative Mimi Stewart sponsored memorials this session to establish work groups to provide analysis on the best path for the solvency of the scholarship program.
When asked about the future of the scholarship program, Senator Sanchez commented, “The Lottery Scholarship is one of the best programs we have to support our state’s students through college. We need the additional funding in this bill to continue our support through the 2014 school year. Over the interim, we will get a working group together to address the long-term solvency of the scholarship fund. Our students and their families depend on the success of the program.”
The Lottery Scholarship program was established in 1996 and has supported thousands of New Mexican college students each year by awarding scholarships for tuition. In recent years, the program has had to grapple with funding issues from increased program costs and steadily increasing tuition levels as well as decreased lottery ticket sales.
Governor Martinez is expected to make a decision on the legislation soon.
###
Comments are closed.