Dive Brief:
- Education officials in Nebraska are battling over $17 million — the leftovers of this year’s lottery proceeds that, according to the state’s constitution, must go toward education once winners and workers have been paid.
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The education funds have traditionally been split, with $9 million going toward grants for low-income college students and the rest going to K-12 education programing, but legal language explaining the spending requirements will expire in July 2016.
- Bracing for possible changes in the division of these funds, educators, students, and officials presented a state education committee with their vision for the funds on Wednesday.
Dive Insight:
According to the state constitution, once Nebraska has paid winners, workers, and a requisite $500,000 to help fight gambling addictions, it must put any extra funds towards education. The $17 million in this case represents the 44.5% of the sum that was leftover after these first payments were paid.
While Nebraska has had a somewhat positive experience with state lotteries, as witnessed by the presentations before the education committee, that is not the case for all states.
Earlier this month, "Last Week Tonight" host John Oliver did a segment on education money associated with state lotteries. In it, he zeroed in on North Carolina, which started a lottery 10 years ago with the promise that it would add $500 million a year to education. In reality, Oliver explains, the state actually spends less on education than it did when it started the initiative.
In 2007, CBS News launched an investigation, finding that of the 24 states with lottery education funds, 21 had either seen decreased or flat spending on education.