Revenues of the state lottery shall be allocated as follows:
(a) Not less than 84 percent of the total annual revenues from the sale of state lottery tickets or shares shall be returned to the public in the form of prizes and net revenues to benefit public education.
(1) Fifty percent of the total annual revenues shall be returned to the public in the form of prizes as described in this chapter.
(2) (A) At least 34 percent of the total annual revenues shall be allocated to the benefit of public education, as specified in Section 8880.5.
(B) However, for the 1998–99 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, 50 percent of any increase in the amount calculated pursuant to this paragraph from the amount calculated in the 1997–98 fiscal year shall be allocated to school districts and community college districts for the purchase of instructional materials and for housing assistance and food assistance for community college students on the basis of an equal amount per unit of average daily attendance, as defined by law, and through a fair and equitable distribution system across grade levels.
(3) All unclaimed prize money shall revert to the benefit of public education, as provided for in subdivision (e) of Section 8880.321.
(4) All of the interest earned upon funds held in the State Lottery Fund shall be allocated to the benefit of public education, as specified in Section 8880.5. This interest is in addition to, and shall not be considered as any part of, the 34 percent of the total annual revenues that is required to be allocated for the benefit of public education, as specified in paragraph (2).
(5) No more than 16 percent of the total annual revenues shall be allocated for payment of expenses of the lottery as described in this chapter. To the extent that expenses of the lottery are less than 16 percent of the total annual revenues, any surplus funds also shall be allocated to the benefit of public education, as specified in this section or in Section 8880.5.
(b) Funds allocated for the benefit of public education pursuant to subdivision (a) are in addition to other funds appropriated or required under existing constitutional reservations for educational purposes. No program shall have the amount appropriated to support that program reduced as a result of funds allocated pursuant to subdivision (a). Funds allocated for the benefit of public education pursuant to subdivision (a) shall not supplant funds committed for child development programs.
(c) None of the following shall be considered revenues for the purposes of this section:
(1) Revenues recorded as a result of a nonmonetary exchange. “Nonmonetary exchange” means a reciprocal transfer, in compliance with generally accepted accounting principles, between the lottery and another entity that results in the lottery acquiring assets or services and the lottery providing assets or services.
(2) Reimbursements received by the lottery for the cost of goods or services provided by the lottery that are less than or equal to the cost of the same goods or services provided by the lottery.
(d) Reimbursements received in excess of the cost of the same goods and services provided by the lottery, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c), are not a part of the 34 percent of total annual revenues required to be allocated for the benefit of public education, as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a). However, this amount shall be allocated for the benefit of public education, as specified in Section 8880.5.
(e) This section shall become operative on April 1 of the year following notification from the Controller to the Legislature and the Governor that the events described in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 8880.4.5 have occurred.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 56, Sec. 2) by Stats. 2020, Ch. 294, Sec. 3. (AB 2884) Effective September 29, 2020. Section is conditionally operative, on date prescribed in subd. (e). Note: Before the repeal and addition by Stats. 2010, Ch. 13, Section 8880.4 originally was added on Nov. 6, 1984, by initiative Prop. 37.)