The House Budget Committee’s decision to cut $5-Million from the state lottery’s advertising budget for the next fiscal year has prompted the State Lottery Commission to project a cut in overall sales, and consequently, a cut in the amount of money that will be transfered to schools. Commissioners meeting this morning in Jefferson City heard from the Lottery’s Executive Director Jim Scroggins that the $5-Million cut in advertising would mean a $15-Million reduction in money to public education. Commissioner Kenneth Hensley says they voted to project $31-Million in losses to education. Hensley denies the figure is out of spite. Commissioners pointed to previous cuts in the advertising budget and examples from other states to justify their figures. Last year, the lottery took a $2-Million cut in advertising, but officials say there were new games and incentives that actually still helped increase the amount of sales for this year.
