Amendment to move lottery dollars to school aid passes Michigan House

Amy Franklin

Thursday, March 23, 2000 | 11:04 a.m.

LANSING, Mich. - The state school aid fund would be increased by $10 million taken from the advertising budget for the state lottery under an amendment approved by the state House Wednesday.

The amendment to the 2000-01 general government budget, which passed 72-34, drops the lottery's advertising budget to $8 million. The annual state budget takes effect Oct. 1.

Compulsive gambling programs already take up $1 million of that budget, State Lottery Commissioner Don Gilmer said.

Democratic Rep. A.T. Frank of Saginaw said the lottery's advertising budget should be cut because of the prevalence of instant lotto games and drawings.

"They don't need to advertise because when you get up to the counter you see row after row of lotto tickets and machines," Frank said. "The department can do well with the money there."

Cutting the lottery's budget will severely impact a business already struggling to compete against casinos, Gilmer said.

"We don't have the same glamour and appeal as a glitzy casino," Gilmer said.

The number of radio and television ads, which cost the lottery more than $9 million last year, will likely be reduced, Gilmer said. The state lottery also will have to consider canceling its "Rags to Riches" television show and television postings of nightly drawings.

The school aid fund provides money for school districts across Michigan.

Another amendment to the general government budget that would have provided tuition reimbursements to legislative staff members failed to gain approval in the House.

The House also failed to approve an amendment that would have allocated $10 million to the state pension fund in the general government budget. An amendment to provide local communities with the funds to clean up road kill not taken by the state to test also failed.

The state House overwhelmingly approved the $99 million Department of Environmental Quality budget.