ATLANTA - A report released last month claims the state's popular HOPE Scholarship will run out of money by 2028, but some believe the information about who is behind the report is more important than what is in it.
Chip Lake created the Committee to Preserve HOPE Scholarships last year.
"It's a group of businesses, individuals, interested parties that understand the important role that the HOPE Scholarship plays in this state," said Lake, who serves as the committee's president.
The committee commissioned a report and analysis of the HOPE program and released it in August.
The state created the lottery and the scholarship in 1993 to try to keep good students in state for college. According to the committee's report, demand for the HOPE Scholarship will soon outpace lottery funding.
"One of the reasons it's popular and successful is because it works, but a by-product of that success it's created a demand and a strain on the program that is just not sustainable for the long term," Lake explained.
The committee has created an online "Preserve Hope GA" campaign on social media to help raise awareness of what Lake called the "funding gap." The campaign features photos and videos of students and families who have benefited from HOPE.
Lake said the money for the campaign comes from committee members--which includes "gaming and non-gaming business interests"
"I'm highly skeptical of this report," said State Senator Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta.
Fort opposed legislation earlier this year that would have legalized casinos in Georgia--the same legislation that Lake said his committee supported.
"The gaming industry and their friends didn't put all this money into this report for no reason. It's part of a strategy. It's part of a ploy," said Fort. "Get the issue ginned up, get people excited, you know, run out and say the sky is falling and then, you know, the discussion around [the state Capitol] on the second Monday of January is 'Guess what? We've got a solution for you. These casinos will do the job.'"
Lake, however, said the report did not recommend a solution to fix the issue and instead just highlighted it.
The Georgia Student Finance Commission, which administers HOPE, did not return a request for comment on the report.