With Gov. Perry about to cut $4 billion dollars from public education as well as $1 billion dollars from higher education, this blog is certainly relevant.
Many Texans were sold that the Texas lottery was the fix all for public education.
It was suppose to ease the burden of the tax payers.
The Texas lottery has generated over 18 billion dollars for Texas since 1992.
Now prior to 1997 the proceeds were allocated to the general review fund.
Since 1997 all lottery proceeds have been transferred to the Foundation School Fund to support public education. The Texas lottery has contributed more then 13 billion dollars to the Foundation School Fund and of that total 1 billion was contributed in the fiscal year 2010. In 13 years the Texas lottery has contributed 13 billion dollars into the Foundation School Fund.
At first glance those are really nice numbers. But maybe not all of the possible money is going to the fund?
As we have discussed here before Texas, as with the entire country, is facing school shutdowns, teacher layoffs, bigger classroom sizes and budget cuts.
As I stated earlier the Texas lottery paid out 1 billion dollars to public education in 2010. The problem is that is only 5% of the states public school budget. It is only 1/60 of the amount needed to pay for all of Texas public education.
So Texas added 1 billion dollars to the lottery to the Foundation School Fund. Well now that they could add 1 billion dollars from the lottery to the funding of public schools, the state decided to take out 1 billion dollars of other state funding for public schools. So in all actuality no new money was added. They put some in and took out the same amount. This was even confirmed by a Texas Senator.
It is also true that millions of dollars associated with the Texas lottery never go to the public education fund at all. I'm speaking about the unclaimed prize money. In the fiscal year 2010 this added up to 87 million dollars. It was found that of that 87 million dollars 10 million dollars of it goes to the trauma center at the University of Texas branch in Galveston. The rest of the 87 million goes back to the states general fund to be spent by everyone else.
Since the Texas lottery was introduced the amount of unclaimed prize money is 626 million dollars. That money is not going into the Foundation School Fund to be used on public education.
Some lawmakers say that even if every single penny of unclaimed prize money went to public schools it would not make a dent in the overall budget problem. I beg to differ. That could have been a 626 million dollar dent.
So far this year the Texas lottery has brought 2.2 billion dollars in sales and deposited 5.1 million into the Foundation School Fund. One major problem is scratch offs. Scratch offs generate approximately 75% of all lottery sales. These scratch offs have a higher prize payout percentage and they also direct less money to education.
In 2010 the Texas lottery reported 3.74 billion dollars in ticket sales.
Here is where the money went:
2.3 billion dollars in total prizes. Ok I understand that. 187 million dollars in commissions to lottery venues. The place that sells the winning tickets gets a cut. Ok fine I guess. 9 million more dollars in retailer bonuses. So they already get millions in commissions and now they get millions in bonuses. That doesnt fly with me. 185.3 million dollars for administrative expenses. Really, 185.3 million dollars in admin. expenses? I dont think so cut that in half at least. 7.2 million dollars to the Texas Veterans Commission. Ok there was a scratch off created, at 2 dollars a piece, that all proceeds come from. And last but not least the 77 million dollars of unclaimed prize money that went back to the general fund (remember that 10 million of that goes to UTMB at Galveston for what ever reason).
So I see alot of money there that could at least help with our public school budget problem. It might not fix the entire problem but it would definitely help.
Here is a thought. If you take the 77(possible 87) million dollars and add the 9 million dollars of the retailers bonuses and then take at least half of the admin. expenses, lets say 92 million dollars and add then all up you get....178 million dollars a year that could be added to the 1 billion dollars already in the Foundation School Fund. Couldn't we create a scratch off exclusively for the public schools, like they did for the Veterans. That could add another possible 7 million dollars on top of the 178 million dollars.
185 million dollars is nothing to just throw away when it comes to our public education programs, or for any programs for that matter.
Now I am no genius but maybe I'm onto something here. We were told that the Texas lottery would help the burden that is on our public education system. So lets make sure it does.
I could be right, I could be wrong...Please tell me what you think...Agree with me or disagree with me either way I know what the PEOPLE think. L2
3 comments:
Well written, I was discussing this blog with someone and they are interested if you could give your source of statistics. I personally think of the Texas Lottery as an elaborate hoax that draws millions of dollars from the very poor citizens looking for a break from an already oppressive economy. I find the same kind of confusion when it comes to tax refunds. Being part of a 2 person household with no deductions other that ourselves and having owed the IRS for the last two years into the thousands sit looking at people I know personally who don't work, have goverment assitance for their children and are upset because they are only getting back $9000 instead of the $11,000 they were expecting to get from a system they DON'T contribute into!!! Where does this insanity end?
@CHEFBOY1138 thank you for your comment and thank you for being a follower of our website..I don't want to sound like some snooty person here but I would rather not divulge my sources..I can tell you that my numbers can be confirmed by the Texas lottery commission. As with my other blogs I will not write something that I have not confirmed myself through my sources. There are statistics that prove the lottery is played more by lower income participants then higher income. That being said the lottery still generates alot of revenue. I agree with you that the tax return issue has some issues...You work hard everyday, you have taxes taken out of your hard earned pay check just to have the government tell you at the end of the year "oh we need to take more from you"..while the single parent with no job no education because he/she dropped out of school, who has 3 three children receives minimum of 9000 dollars back. Did he/she contribute to out society? Well if you count the three children plus herself/himself they contributed to the rest societies tax burden. When does it end? When we make it end and we are starting the process right here right now by discussing it and being heard...L2
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