House panel OKs bill seeking to boost lottery ticket sales, stabilize scholarship fund

A bill aimed at increasing New Mexico Lottery ticket sales – and keeping the Legislative Lottery Scholarship fund solvent – cleared another hurdle Wednesday when the House Regulatory and Public Affairs Committee voted to move it forward. Senate Bill 355, sponsored by Sen. John Arthur Smith, D-Deming, would terminate a requirement that the lottery funnel 30 percent of its annual revenues from ticket sales into the scholarship fund and instead invest more money in higher payoffs and marketing tools to boost ticket sales.