State lawmakers approved legislation to preserve the HOPE scholarship last week without backing a separate measure to keep them from spending lottery money on construction and pet projects.

Rep. Louise McBee (D-Athens), chairwoman of the House Higher Education Committee, said a proposed constitutional amendment to limit lottery spending "slipped through the cracks" and never made it to the House floor for a vote.

The proposal came after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last year that lawmakers had allocated $1.8 billion from the lottery over the past decade for things other than HOPE and pre-kindergarten classes. That included museums, seldom-used satellite dishes, renovations of historic buildings and a $50 million public broadcasting and telecommunications complex.

The measure passed the Senate 53-3 three weeks before the end of the legislative session, but some Republican lawmakers are skeptical the Democratic House ever intended to approve an amendment that would tie legislators' hands on spending lottery money.

"I'm sure they didn't have any interest in passing it," said Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton), chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, who sponsored the HOPE bills.

Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans) is also suspicious. "Somebody must have a project they need built," he said.

Had the measure passed the House, it would have been on the fall election ballot.

A study commission exploring ways to preserve HOPE had recommended that the state limit the use of lottery money, which funds the college scholarships as well as pre-k. Officials expect enrollment and tuition to rise faster than lottery sales in the future, creating the need for changes.

When the lottery started in 1993, it quickly produced millions in excess money. About $5 million went to renovate the old state Capitol in Milledgeville and $12.5 million went for an interactive science museum in Augusta. About $24 million was poured into school safety, funding security fences and metal detectors, and $1.3 million went for an interactive exhibit at an aviation museum in Warner Robins, represented by then-House Majority Leader Larry Walker and current Gov. Sonny Perdue, then a Senate leader.

Lottery proceeds also paid for satellite dishes at about 2,000 schools and colleges to beam programming into classrooms. Within a year, there were complaints that computers were still in their boxes unused.

About one-third of the money raised during the lottery's first 10 years went to non-HOPE and pre-k projects. As the money got tighter in recent years, officials gradually eliminated such spending. However, HOPE commission members didn't want to risk it starting again.

Under HOPE, Georgia high school students with a B average or higher receive full tuition along with mandatory fees and a book allowance to attend an in-state public college.

On the final day of the 2004 session, lawmakers approved a bill creating a tougher 3.0 grade point average requirement, and freezing fee payments to students. The bill also would gradually eliminate book and fee payments if the HOPE fund dips for three years.

McBee said House leaders did not voice opposition to the proposed ban. McBee said she thinks it could pass next year, but that means it wouldn't go on the ballot until 2006.

Shelley Nickel, director of the Georgia Student Finance Commission, which administers HOPE, said the matter may be moot because there soon won't be any money left for anything but HOPE and pre-k.

"I believe the programs we are funding now are going to grow sufficiently that they will eat up the [lottery] revenue," she said.