Bill Text: HI SCR189 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Business, Economic Development, And Tourism To Study The Feasibility Of A State Lottery To Fund Hawaii's Public Education.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-28 - Report adopted, referred to WAM. [SCR189 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SCR189-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	189
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of business, economic development, and tourism to study the feasibility of a state lottery to fund hawaii's public education.

 

 

     WHEREAS, compared to other states, Hawaii is unique because the State, rather than a county or local level jurisdiction, is responsible for public education; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, funding for public education in Hawaii is primarily sourced from the general fund of the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, public education in Hawaii is not adequately funded, as Hawaii's education expenditures rank lowest in the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, lagging state education expenditures drive Hawaii families to compete for private school enrollment, leaving Hawaii with one of the highest rates of private school enrollment in the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, continuous underfunding of public schools undermines the State's goal of providing a quality education to all of Hawaii's children; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is necessary to develop a new means of funding Hawaii's public education system to ensure that the State will be able to prepare children to meet the social and economic demands of the twenty-first century; and

 

     WHEREAS, for forty-four states, state lotteries represent a small, but valuable source of revenue; and

 

     WHEREAS, on average, about one percent of state revenue comes from lotteries; and

 

     WHEREAS, nationally, in fiscal year 2015, state lotteries generated $66,800,000,000 in gross revenue; and

 

     WHEREAS, after costs for prizes, administration, and advertising, states were still left with net lottery proceeds of $21,400,000,000; and

 

     WHEREAS, funding public education is an important goal and a shared responsibility that can be achieved through creative solutions to provide sufficient revenues to fund quality education in the State; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to study the feasibility of a state lottery to fund Hawaii's public education; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism submit a report of its findings and recommendations to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2019; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Chair of the Board of Education; and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

State Lottery; Education; Funding; Feasibility Study