New York comptroller says scholarship program needs lawmakers’ OK

Joel Stashenko

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 4:53 a.m.

ALBANY, N.Y. - New York's Democratic comptroller cautioned its Republican governor Tuesday against starting a Lottery-funded scholarship program for one top senior at every high school in the state.

H. Carl McCall said Gov. George Pataki's "Leaders of Tomorrow" scholarship plan needs legislative approval just like any other proposal involving the appropriation of state funds.

For the Pataki administration to move ahead with the program - the Lottery Division has funded full-page newspaper advertisements telling schools they have until March 31 to nominate two candidates - is "irresponsible," McCall said.

"The governor should not be making promises of scholarships from an unauthorized program to students and parents," McCall said.

The Lottery program calls for recipients - one senior at each of the 1,300 public and private high schools in New York - to get $1,000 a year for up to four years. The program would cost about $1.3 million annually.

McCall said he wasn't necessarily against issuing the scholarships, but favors increases in the state Tuition Assistance Program grants as a way of helping more high schoolers afford college.

Teens must be graduating from high school with a "B" average or higher to qualify for consideration for a "Leaders of Tomorrow" scholarship, plus have showed they are "well-rounded" academically, socially and athletically and are going to attend a public or private college or trade school in New York state.

Three Democratic state senators this month told Pataki it was illegal for him to award the scholarships without legislative approval. They also complained that the qualifications for winners are imprecise and would lead to the awarding of scholarships on an inconsistent basis from school to school.

McCall, who is considered a possible Pataki opponent in 2002, released an opinion Tuesday from his counsel Randolph Treece which advised that the Lottery Division is not legally authorized to run a scholarship program without legislative approval.

The Lottery Division also can't legally pay for advertising for the scholarship program, Treece said.

Lottery proceeds are supposed to go to aid education in the state according to the constitution, but Treece said that document stipulates that revenues go to schools "as the Legislature may prescribe."

Rob Hayes, a spokesman for the state Lottery Division, said "Leaders of Tomorrow" is a "wonderful" program.

"We are clearly supporting education with this," Hayes said. "It is clearly within the New York Lottery's province to execute such a program and we will continue moving forward with this program."

He added that the Lottery currently funds $15,000 scholarships to the State University of New York at Albany for outstanding high schoolers who participate in an "Expeditions" program.