Report: Black colleges received lottery money

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The General Assembly has illegally distributed about $3 million in lottery proceeds to five historically black colleges, the state attorney general's office says.

An opinion from Robert D. Cook, assistant deputy attorney general, said the state constitution prohibits giving public money to any "religious or other private educational institution."

In the $259 million lottery spending plan approved by the General Assembly last year, $3 million was earmarked for "private black colleges' repairs." The rest of the money went to LIFE scholarships, HOPE scholarships, tuition assistance for technical schools and grants.

The opinion has already sparked political debate. Rep. John Graham Altman, R-Charleston, who requested the opinion, said the money was awarded in the waning days of the 2002 legislative session "when some black senators said they would hold up the bill unless some money was given to private schools."