Ga. lawmakers to discuss lottery-funded programs

ATLANTA - State lawmakers are gathering in Atlanta to begin hammering out a plan to save the programs that get money from the Georgia Lottery from going broke.

Leaders from the state's university system, prekindergarten program, technical college system and others will testify before a joint meeting of the House and Senate Higher Education Committees on Monday. Demand for the programs particularly the HOPE scholarship have far outpaced lottery ticket sales.

The lottery-funded HOPE scholarship program is dipping into its reserves for the first time in nearly a decade because it is $100 million over budget. That means reducing textbook stipends for 200,000 college students on the HOPE scholarship starting in 2012, the first step in a series of ``triggers'' set up by state law.