Editorial: Prepare to subsidize scholarship

Monday, Feb. 10, 2003 | 9:02 a.m.

There is disagreement among state financial experts regarding the year when money from the tobacco settlement will no longer fully fund Gov. Kenny Guinn's Millennium Scholarship program. State Treasurer Brian Krolicki says the tobacco funds will be sufficient until the end of the decade. Financial analysts for the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, however, say the funds will be insufficient to cover the program's full cost by 2006. The important point, however, is that whoever is crunching the numbers acknowledges that the tobacco funds are a finite resource.

Beginning in 1999, the year Guinn became governor, states began receiving money from their settlement with the tobacco companies. States had sued, saying they had lost billions in Medicaid money while providing care for people whose illnesses were linked to smoking. In his first State of the State address, Guinn announced the scholarship program as a highlight of his administration. Any student graduating from a Nevada high school with a B average would be eligible if attending a state university or state community college. The money would come from the tobacco settlement.

There are now 12,000 students enrolled and projections show that nearly 18,200 will be enrolled by 2005. Part of the settlement required tobacco companies to stop targeting youths and to limit their advertising. This, combined with anti-tobacco campaigns, is reducing sales. As the settlement money was tied to sales, Nevada will likely receive less money every year. Yet it's almost a certainty that the scholarship program will keep growing. We view the program as a success and believe, whether a state subsidy comes due in 2006 or 2010, that Nevada should be ready to provide it.