To the editor:
There is a lot of discussion in the state legislature about road funding and infrastructure improvements. And since this is a budget year, we are looking at education funding and many others.
I have been asked by many constituents about the lottery money and where it has gone, since many people thought that it went toward education. Being new to the Senate I sought to find that answer.
What I found is that the Lottery Commission is required to transfer surplus revenue from the Administrative Trust Fund to certain funds. I discovered the following in a recent report from the Legislative Services Agency: Lottery revenue for fiscal year 2014: $250.6 million; 2015, $243.4 million; 2016, $290 million.
The distribution schedule indicates $30 million for teachers retirement and police/fire pension relief in 2014, ’15 and ’16 and $166.3 million, $182.4 million and $251.1 million for the Build Indiana Fund for those years, respectively.
The Build Indiana Fund supports the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax Replacement Fund as well as state and local projects. Those state and local projects include support for the Midwest Higher Education Community, work force centers, Degree Link, Southern Indiana Education Alliance, higher education telecommunications, Education Technology Fund, School and Library Internet Connection Fund and Inspire Fund.
I hope this information is helpful.
State Sen. Jack E. Sandlin, District 36