Updated 02/27/2009 08:54 PM
N.Y. State Lottery Backs Off Plan To Cut Scholarships
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New York State Lottery officials have backed off a plan to save money by cutting their high school scholarship program.
A lottery spokesperson told the Associated Press that they were cutting the annual "Leaders of Tomorrow" scholarship program to comply with Governor David Paterson's request that all state agencies cut 10 percent of their budgets.
She added the decision to keep the program is not related to the article published in the Daily News, which reported that the program would be cut.
The spokeswoman said the agency has not been accepting applications and will now have to catch up on a month's worth of judging.
Since 2000, one student from every high school in the state has been awarded the $5,000 scholarship. The agency says cutting the scholarships would have saved about $1.4 million.
The lottery takes in around $7.5 billion a year.