Let's Not Gamble With The Future Of The Lottery

May 13, 2003

Whether or not you were for the lottery is inconsequential at this point.   I must say that I believe it’s a road we should not go down but the voters of Tennessee have decided to place us on that road.   Now that we’re there, it’s important to do it right.

Senator Cohen and the supporters of the lottery seem to be so eager to get it started that mistakes are inevitable; mistakes that need not be made.   They’re fashioning our lottery after the Hope Scholarship program in Georgia but that program is seriously flawed.   We have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and do it right.

First, the Georgia model is scheduled to become a direct drain on the taxpayers within the next year or so.   There are so many scholarships being handed out that the income from the lottery can’t keep up.   That means dipping into the general fund to make up the difference and that problem will only grow.

Governor Bredesen had an excellent idea to help ensure that doesn’t happen.   He proposed allowing the lottery money to come in for a full year before any scholarships are awarded.   That’s just common sense.   Wait to see exactly how much money we have from this source, then we can set the criteria for the scholarships.   As it stands now, the general assembly is bickering over what standard to use.   Some want a 3.0 GPA while others want to lower it.   Some want to tack on another $1,000 for low-income students while others want the extra $1,000 for everyone.   It’s impossible to know until we see just how much money is coming in.

On the present course we will inevitably miscalculate and find ourselves in the same mess as the state budget.   We project year-in and year-out and we are always wrong.   We base spending on those projections then find ourselves in a pinch when the money doesn’t materialize.

The second common sense approach should be waiting to award any scholarship money until the student produces a diploma.   In Georgia, over 60 percent of Hope Scholarship recipients don’t finish college.   That’s money wasted when the ultimate goal is to help these students get a degree in order to find a better job.   I would propose that during the person’s four years in school, the money would be awarded in the form of a student loan with nothing due until they either graduate or drop out.   If they graduate, it converts to the scholarship.   If they drop out, they are responsible for paying back the portion of the education that’s been paid by the state.

This plan would separate the casual student, who merely goes on to college because it’s free, from the serious student who plans to use this privilege responsibly.   We should not be funding college for those who do not finish, plain and simple.

The naysayers to this idea are already out in full force.   They claim that it would be too expensive to administer such a program but they’re wrong.   If Georgia is any indication, over 60 percent of the scholarships we’re planning to fund would not be funded.   That’s a lot of money.   Also, consider the cost of hiring new professors and building new classrooms for that 60 percent-plus who never finish.   What a waste of money and human resources that is.

I suspect some of the proponents of fast-tracking these scholarships understand that and see it as the quickest way to an income tax.   I remind you that most of the highest taxed states have both a lottery and an income tax.   We could be next if we don’t do this the right way.