Lt. Gov. Halter urges tough lottery ethics rules
by February 25, 2009 9:40 am 61 views
The debate continues in the 87th General Assembly about how to structure a lottery program approved by Arkansas voters in November.
While many legislators seem to approve of a governing structure that assembles an independent, non-political body, the ongoing discussion now is focused on the mechanisms of how to award college scholarships from the lottery proceeds.
House Speaker Robbie Wills has suggested an “extreme makeover” to the existing Academic Challenge scholarship program that could expand the number of qualified applicants from 3,500 to 11,000. Overall, Wills said it is possible to expand annual scholarship availability from 8,500 students to 35,000 students.
Another aspect of the ongoing debate is that of creating an “Ethics” structure to prevent misuse of the millions of dollars that will begin to pour into the lottery structure once the program is approved.
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, the driver behind the lottery initiative that gained voter approval in November, is a staunch advocate of tough ethics rules. He says the $400 million in lottery proceeds generated within the first year of the lottery’s activation will provide much temptation for people to “get their fingers in there where they don’t belong.”
Link here to his interview with Roby Brock, a content partner with The City Wire.