By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — The state Legislature is likely to set lottery-funded scholarships at $5,000 per year to attend a four-year school and $2,500 per year to attend a two-year school, House Speaker Robbie Wills said today.
Also, lottery officials said the lottery’s staff attorney has resigned over a disagreement involving merit raises.
“I have yet to see anything from the Lottery Commission that would indicate to me that we could not do $5,000 scholarships for a four-year school or $2,500 dollars for a two-year school,” Wills, D-Conway, said during a hearing of the legislative lottery oversight committee.
Lawmakers will set the amounts of the first scholarships during the fiscal session that convenes in February. Wills said Tuesday he was not making an official recommendation, just offering his opinion.
Wills also said he expects to be able to set aside $8 million for nontraditional students and at least $8 million for students already attending college.
Lottery officials have said the lottery is on track to exceed its projected gross proceeds of $400 million and net proceeds for scholarships of $102 million in its first year.
Talking to reporters after the hearing, Wills predicted that support in the Legislature for offering $5,000 and $2,500 scholarships will be “unanimous” if lottery revenue continues to keep up with projections.
Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, who proposed the constitutional amendment voters approved last year to create the lottery, has said previously he supports offering lottery-funded scholarships in those amounts.
Also during Tuesday’s hearing, Ray Thornton, chairman of the state Lottery Commission, told the panel that Bridgette Frazier quit her $105,000 a year job as staff attorney for the lottery on Friday.
Thornton said Frazier inquired about merit raises and was told by her supervisor, Vice President of Administration Ernestine Middleton, that lottery staff would not be considered for raises.
A dispute arose between Frazier and Middleton because they had conflicting opinions about whether employees were entitled to raises under the rules of the state Office of Personnel Management, he said.
Asked later by reporters if Frazier was asked to resign, Thornton acknowledged “she was given that as an alternative.”
He said the commission would try to determine how state merit pay guidelines should apply to lottery staff.
Frazier did not immediately respond Tuesday to a message left at her home. A lottery employee said Middleton would be off work all this week.
Sen. Terry Smith, D-Hot Springs, said during the hearing he had been contacted by a constituent who purchased a lottery ticket that apparently was tampered with, possibly by a clerk attempting to determine whether the ticket was a winner before selling it.
Smith asked if the lottery was having a problem with similar incidents. Bishop Woosley, the lottery’s director of procurement, said he was not aware of a problem.
Lance Huey, the lottery’s security director, said later in an interview that two reports of clerks possibly tampering with tickets are currently under investigation. No arrests have been made in connection with those investigations, he said.
“We just caution people to look at your ticket,” Huey said. “Know what you’re buying, look at your ticket and if there’s a problem, contact the store owner or contact the lottery.”
