Issue Summary
In 2007, Think New Mexico's lottery reform legislation was passed by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor.
The New Mexico Lottery was created to "provide the maximum amount of revenues" for full-tuition scholarships at public colleges and universities in New Mexico, according to state law. These "Lottery Success Scholarships" have sent over 38,000 of New Mexico's best students to college.
Unfortunately, in 2006 the Higher Education Department projected that the scholarship fund faced an $18 million deficit in 2011, when the cost of the scholarships were projected to exceed lottery revenues and current cash reserves would be depleted.
Under that scenario, the eligibility requirements for the scholarship would have to be raised so that many deserving students would no longer qualify for Success Scholarships, or the value of the scholarship would have to be cut for all students, increasing the financial burden on already stretched New Mexico families.
In September 2006, Think New Mexico proposed a different strategy for making Lottery Success Scholarships sustainable: cut the disproportionately high operating and administrative costs at the New Mexico Lottery and re-allocate those savings to scholarships. The New Mexico lottery's operating and administrative costs were the fifth highest in the nation in 2005, and are very high even when compared to other states that have low populations, rural populations, and low ticket sales.
Think New Mexico released a policy report describing its "30% solution" for making the scholarships sustainable: require that the lottery return 30% of every dollar to the scholarship fund, just as state law already required 50% be returned to players as prizes. Today, only 24 cents of every dollar bet on the lottery go to scholarships, while nearly 20 cents go to pay operating and administrative costs.
Increasing the proportion of revenues going to scholarships can be achieved by such strategies as re-negotiating the state's overly expensive, sole source online gaming contract with multinational corporation GTech.
Eleven other states have already successfully implemented this strategy, and several other small lotteries delivered over 30% to their beneficiaries in 2005, including North Dakota (33.5%), Washington D.C. (30.4%), New Hampshire (30.2%), and West Virginia (30%).
Think New Mexico continues to work on implementing the lottery reform solution.
Resources & Media
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Think New Mexico's policy report on Reforming the Lottery to make Success Scholarships Sustainable |
Read Associated Press Article on the Initial Results of the Lottery Reform Legislation
Read Santa Fe New Mexican Article on How the Lottery Saved $35 million by Rebidding the Gtech Contract
Read front page Albuquerque Journal Article on Passage of Lottery Reform Bill
Read excerpt from Think New Mexico's policy report on Unconscionable GTech Contract
Listen to KSFR Report on Lottery Reform • January 16, 2007 (mp3, 5:30)
Coalition in Support of Lottery Reform
Read Think New Mexico's Opinion Editorial on Lottery Reform Bill
Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial in Support of Lottery Reform Bill •
January 25, 2007
Governor Richardson Cancels Lottery Lobbyist Contract
• January 18, 2007: Editorials Praise Richardson's Decision; (Rio Grande Sun; Albuquerque Journal)
• January 16, 2007: Richardson Orders Contract Canceled
• January 14, 2007: Albuquerque Journal Editorializes Against Lottery Lobbyist Contract
• January 12, 2007: Lottery Defends Decision to Hire Lobbyist
Syndicated Columnist Jay Miller's Columns • November 23, 2006 • October 8, 2006 • September 28, 2007
Albuquerque Journal Editorials on Lottery Reform • October 30, 2006 • September 5, 2006
Las Vegas Daily Optic Editorial • September 26, 2006
Deming Headlight Editorial on Lottery Reform • September 13, 2006
Santa Fe New Mexican Editorial on Lottery Reform • September 10, 2006
Hobbs News-Sun Editorial on Lottery Reform • September 9, 2006
Las Cruces Sun-News Editorial on Lottery Reform • September 7, 2006
New Mexico Business Weekly Article on Lottery Reform • November 3, 2006
Get Involved
Thank Your Legislators
During the 2007 legislative session, Think New Mexico supporters sent more than 250 messages to their legislators urging them to support our legislation reforming the lottery to ensure that college scholarships continue to be accessible to all of New Mexico's deserving high school graduates. This grassroots support was a big reason why the bill passed with such wide bipartisan margins on both the House and Senate. Messages from constituents are the key to winning lasting policy reform. Click here to thank your legislators for enacting legislation to reduce the operating and administrative costs of the New Mexico lottery and dedicate 30% of the revenues to scholarships.
Vocal public support of proposals like making Lottery Success Scholarships sustainable played a big part in making it happen. Legislators were attentive and responsive to letters to the editors from their constituents on this issue. We encourage you to express your support for reforming New Mexico's lottery through the media, as well as directly to your state senators and representatives. The Media section of Think New Mexico's Action Center provides the names and contact information for your local media, including newspapers, radio stations, and television stations, and you can compose and send any of them an email or letter right from there.
Think New Mexico
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Phone: (505) 992-1315 • Fax: (505) 992-1314 • Email: info@thinknewmexico.org
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