With North Carolina rolling out its own lottery, South Carolina lottery officials are projecting a $200 million drop in revenue this year, and that has some worried state scholarships could feel the pinch.
“The scholarships have greatly benefited the students in South Carolina and provided us the funding we need to stay in college,” said Tommy Preston, a senior and student body president at the University of South Carolina. Preston has had a lottery-funded LIFE scholarship all four years at the school. “Any reduction would be detrimental to students in South Carolina, especially with college costs continuing to rise.”
Players spent $1.14 billion on the South Carolina Education Lottery in the last fiscal year. That year included two Powerball jackpots exceeding $300 million, which increased purchases by infrequent players.
Ernie Passailaigue, executive director of the state Lottery Commission, said officials project $935 million in gross sales for the current fiscal year.
Both lottery and general fund revenue are used to finance the LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarships, which award undergraduates $5,000 and $6,700 per year respectively as long as they maintain a “B” average.
Clemson University financial aid director Marvin Carmichael said any reduction in scholarship funding “ultimately could increase the amount of borrowing by families.”
Joel Sawyer, spokesman for Gov. Mark Sanford, said the lottery could return more money to education by reducing the retailers’ percentage from 6 percent to 5 percent or by cutting top lottery officials’ salaries.
“If lottery revenue declines, we need to continue looking at ways to make sure the lottery returns more of its sales to education programs in South Carolina,” Sawyer said.
State Rep. B.R. Skelton, R-Six Mile, said lawmakers “have embarked on these scholarships and we have to maintain them.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dan Cooper, R-Piedmont, said he would suggest cutting other lottery-funded items first.
A three-year general-fund outlook projects the state will need to increase funding for Palmetto Fellows scholarships by 7.5 percent each year and LIFE scholarships by 5 percent each year.
Information from: The Greenville News, http://www.greenvillenews.com
AP
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