Rep. Steve Rawlings of Burlington will serve on the Kentucky General Assembly’s Lottery Trust Fund Task Force, according to an announcement from the office of House Speaker David Osborne.
Legislative leadership created the panel to focus on issues pertaining to the funds accrued from the Kentucky Lottery, as well as identifying both areas of improvement and potential solutions.
“I’m honored to be invited to participate in this task force that focuses on funding educational opportunities for our students.” Rawlings said. “It is crucial that we handle these funds wisely, because of the ability it has to provide scholarships and grants for our students. As a legislator serving on both the House Education Standing Committee and Interim Joint Committee, I strongly believe in transparency and responsible financial management in academic initiatives.”
Stemming from HCR 34, the Lottery Trust Fund Task Force ensures scholarships and grants funded by the trust fund align with the state’s current and future educational needs.
According to figures from the Kentucky Lottery Corporation, 21 cents of each dollar spent on lottery games is used to fund grants and scholarships through the Lottery Trust Fund. Since 1999, more than $4.4 billion in lottery proceeds have been directed to education.
Those scholarships include the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES), College Access Program, Dual Credit, Work Ready Scholarship, Kentucky National Guard Tuition Award Program, and the Kentucky Tuition Award Program.
Lawmakers expanded eligible uses and increased access to KEES funding in 2023. The task force will continue this work, and develop their findings into recommendations for the next legislative session.
“During the 2023 Regular Session, we addressed the juvenile justice crisis, lowered taxes, protected our public pensions, ensured access to reliable and resilient energy sources, and increased access to lifesaving medical services. We also passed legislation aimed at improving workforce shortages in health care, education, and law enforcement and moved to protect parent’s rights and ensure the individuals and institutions our children rely on are acting appropriately,” House Speaker Osborne said. “These accomplishments are the result of a productive interim. Our objective is to come into each session with an agenda aimed at building a brighter future for the people of our commonwealth. Task forces like this one have proven to be a vital tool, providing us with an opportunity to focus on issues as they develop.”
Task force members will meet throughout the 2023 Interim and submit their findings and recommendations to the Legislative Research Commission by Dec. 4, 2023, for referral to the appropriate committee or committees.
Representative Rawlings serves the state’s 66th House District, which includes part of Boone County. In addition to the task force, Rawlings will serve on the interim joint committees on Education, Judiciary, and State Government.
