Lottery Bill Passed By Tennessee Lawmakers Loosens Requirements

Tennessee lawmakers have been working overtime to ensure that they work out the details of a new Bill that has been passed by both the House and the Senate.

The Bill, would loosen requirements for students who are seeking scholarships under the lottery funded program. What still needs to be worked out is how light the requirements will drop to.

The exact grade point average needs to be determined and it will take a compromise of both the House and the Senate to work out the details. The deal was almost done on Tuesday night, but fell through.

Lawmakers are now working overtime to get the deal done. The legislative session was supposed to end on Tuesday. Now, the sticking point in the deal is $2 million in provisions that are included in the new legislation.

The current law makes students carry a 2.75 grade point average for their first year, and a 3.0 for every year after. The new Senate plan calls for the 2.75 to be held all the way through the middle of a student's junior year, then it would be 3.0 after that.

The sides were both negotiating the new deal in hopes that the differences can be resolved quickly. It has been two years that the battling has been taking place over an education surplus from the lottery of around $460 million.

May 22, 2008
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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