Arizona's three universities will bet on the state lottery to bring $1 billion in new buildings and renovations.
Gov. Janet Napolitano signed the $9.9 billion state budget plan into law Friday. The legislation passed the House Thursday, 31-29.
The 2009 spending plan unveiled June 24 will close the previously projected $2 billion deficit for a fiscal year that starts July 1.
The approved package proposed about $432.5 million in spending reductions and $581 million in capital funding, according to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
But one of its most significant features to ASU is a provision for revenue from the Arizona Lottery to go toward construction, maintenance and other projects at ASU, UA and NAU.
The provision would also require the Arizona Board of Regents, the governing body of Arizona's three major universities, to allocate $470 million for the construction of the ASU/UA biomedical campus in Phoenix.
Arizona Lottery Director Art Macias Jr. said the Arizona Lottery provision will fuse an already existing state program with the needs of Arizona's universities.
"This is an excellent opportunity to fulfill the mandate that voters created when they approved the creation of the lottery," Macias said.
"At a time when we need to provide state-of-the-art facilities and state-of-the-art education to a growing state," he said, "we're proud that the lottery can step up to the plate and help fulfill that need."
Since its establishment in 1981, the Arizona Lottery has returned more than $2.2 billion to the state, Macias said.
This year's sales are projected to be more than $470 million, and about $140 million of it will be returned to the state, he said.
One of the terms of the budget makes the lottery responsible for paying 80 percent of the three universities' annual debt over 30 years, Macias said. The first payment would be phased over four years.
In 2010, $13.8 million will be paid on behalf of the universities to cover the debt, he said, and no payments will be made in fiscal year 2009.
A university capital fund would also be established for paying future debt.
A plan to up university funding was in the works for the 2009 budget but lacked funding, Macias said.
By the lottery stepping in, the state's universities will receive the funding they need without costing taxpayers any extra money, he said.
Another provision in the new budget is to raise the payout currently offered, which Macias said will lead to higher sales.
The lottery will also increase the payout from 60 cents on the dollar to 70 cents, Macias said.
"Other states that have increased payouts on their 'scratcher' tickets have seen significant returns on their sales," he said.
In Arizona, lottery sales come out to about $75 a person, though in Massachusetts, people spend about $700 a year, Macias said. States in the middle average around $121, he said.
"You can see that with the Arizona Lottery at $75, we have room for responsible growth, and that's what we will achieve and accomplish," he said, "and at the same time, move Arizona's university system forward."
Reach the reporter at: allison.denny@asu.edu.
