Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday that he'll sign into law legislation that would fund $5,000 college scholarships for four-year schools and $2,500 scholarships for two-year schools with money from Arkansas' lottery.
A day after his office suggested that current college students receive smaller scholarships than incoming freshmen, Beebe said he would approve the recommendations issued by a legislative panel.
"I'm not going to fight about it," Beebe told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. "I've warned them, and I hope I am wrong. I hope I'm being too conservative on the money estimates."
The lottery's legislative oversight committee on Wednesday endorsed the amounts, which must be set during this year's legislative session. Lawmakers, who convene Monday for the roughly monthlong session, say they expect more than 20,000 students to receive the lottery-funded scholarships.
Beebe's office has said lawmakers should assume the lottery will raise $100 million annually for scholarships, which is less than the $112 million that Lottery Director Ernie Passailaigue has predicted the games will net in the first year.
Arkansas began selling lottery tickets in late September. Voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing the lottery to raise money for college scholarships.
Beebe's office on Wednesday said the governor would prefer scholarships for current students to be set at $2,600 for four-year schools and $1,300 for two-year schools.
Beebe said he wanted lawmakers to be more conservative about the scholarship amounts. He said he didn't want the state to promise something that it couldn't deliver if the lottery doesn't sell as many tickets as expected.
"I want the students — both the high school students going to college and the students currently in college as well as nontraditional students — to get the maximum amount of money we can give them," Beebe said. "But I want to do it in a way where we don't have to go back later and reduce it."
The scholarships are among the main issues on the agenda for the Legislature, which will hold its first session devoted to budget issues since voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2008.
The amendment requires the Legislature to meet and budget annually, instead of every other year. Regular sessions are to be held in odd-numbered years, and sessions focusing on the budget in even-numbered years.
Beebe said he hopes lawmakers stay on task and keep away from non-budget issues during the session.
"I think it's more important than ever that they set that precedent the right way and limit it to the purpose for which the voters passed it," he said.
