Commentary: Senate Democrats today sharply criticized Governor Susana Martinez for her veto of bipartisan-supported legislation to shore up declining revenues of New Mexico’s lottery scholarship fund that enables thousands of the state’s students to attend college. The bill, SB 79, would have required unclaimed lottery prizes to be transferred to the scholarship fund, resulting in between $1 to $3 million additionally each year for student scholarships. The decline of state lottery sales has lowered funds available for student tuition scholarships, and SB 79 sought to alleviate the shortfall.
“Given the demand for college-educated workers today, getting a college education is more important than ever. We should be doing everything we can to help more of our students and families in New Mexico afford, and graduate, college. Our lottery scholarship has been hugely successful in launching productive lives, higher family incomes, and lifting students into the middle class, but the funding for it needs a little help. It is extremely disappointing that the Governor vetoed a modest measure to get that assistance for students,” said SB 79’s sponsor, Senator Michael S. Sanchez (D-29-Bernelillo and Valencia).
SB 79, “Forfeited Lottery Prizes to Scholarship Fund”, commanded strong support in the legislature, where it passed the Senate by a vote of 35 to 4, and was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives. The fund requires changes because it has experienced decreased revenues to pay for scholarships in recent years as lottery ticket sales have declined.
The lottery scholarship encourages New Mexico high school graduates to enroll in and complete college. Until recently, the scholarship covered 100 percent of the cost of tuition. With the veto, it is estimated that approximately 88 percent of the cost of tuition currently at New Mexico colleges and universities will be covered by the scholarship.
“The sad fact is that this administration’s solution to achieving solvency is to reduce the number of students receiving the scholarship instead of finding permanent sources of funding. With the veto of SB 79, New Mexico’s students and their families will have to pay more in tuition costs in the next school year,” said Sen. Michael Sanchez. “While it might not seem too much for more affluent families, paying more tuition can make the difference between attending college or not for families of limited or moderate means,” he added.
The scholarship was created 20 years ago by legislation sponsored Sen. Sanchez.