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Halter submits signatures for lottery amendment Friday, Jun 27, 2008 By John Lyon Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Lt. Gov. Bill Halter submitted 138,615 signatures Thursday in support of his proposed constitutional amendment to create a state lottery to fund college scholarships. At least 77,468 of the signatures must be certified by the secretary of state as valid signatures of registered Arkansas voters for the measure to be placed on the November ballot. "Turning these signatures in is a major step along the path of providing hope and opportunity for Arkansans and their families," Halter said at a news conference on the Capitol steps. "It's a major opportunity to help families to send their children to college at a time when tuition is at record levels and when gas prices, food prices and medicine prices are also rising." Halter's campaign released study results Wednesday suggesting what Halter has said all along, that the lottery would raise about $100 million annually for scholarships. Arkansas Advocates for Families and Children, which opposes a lottery, said in study results that lottery proceeds would be about $61.5 million a year. Halter spoke Thursday in front of 75 stacked boxes, one for each of the state's 75 counties. Signatures were collected in every county, he said. Halter reported last week that his Hope for Arkansas campaign has raised $437,850, of which $375,000 was donated by John and Patricia Bailey of Little Rock. The campaign has spent $437,393, most of it on signature-gathering. The lieutenant governor said he hopes to continue receiving donations to support advertising efforts for the lottery proposal. Jerry Cox, executive director of the Family Council, said Thursday the conservative group could not match Halter financially but would wage a grassroots campaign to defeat the lottery proposal. "We think that when it's all said and done, that grassroots campaign will outweigh whatever money he can bring to the table," Cox said. The organization may mount a legal challenge as well, he said. One issue lottery opponents have raised is the possibility that the amendment would open the door to video lottery machines similar to slot machines. Halter said the Legislature, which would write the rules for the lottery, is not likely to let that happen. "We came up short on votes in the Legislature to even have a vote on the lottery in the first place," he said. Cox disagreed. "As we have turnover in the Legislature, you don't know what you're going to get. They might not pass it this year or next year, but what will they do in five years, 10 years, 20 years?" Cox said. |
