North Carolina Still Working To Establish Lottery

Jul 1, 2005, 12:18 pm (21 comments)

North Carolina Lottery

It's a sure bet that if North Carolina becomes the final state on the East Coast to offer a lottery, supporters say, lawmakers will have hundreds of millions of new dollars to spend every year on education.

But just as certain, opponents argue, is that as revenues rise, so will the number of North Carolinians addicted to gambling.

"The lottery will hurt a lot of people. It's a tax on the poor. It affects families," said Tom Spampinato of Cary, who spent 22 years battling a gambling addiction. He is now interim director of the state chapter of Gamblers Anonymous, an organization he's been affiliated with for 27 years.

"It's just another avenue, another thing that will cause people to gamble. ... It's not an effective way to raise money. It is an effective way to get people into trouble."

But that's a risk worth taking, according to supporters who argue the boost a lottery would provide to the state budget outweighs the potential social costs. The numbers game lawmakers are considering would generate an estimated $400 million to $450 million annually. Competing proposals earmark revenues for items such as school construction, college scholarships or an "education enhancement fund."

And it's not the same as a casino, an important distinction for some.

"A casino tends to be an amusement location whereas a lottery is kind of a daily or weekly or episodic purchase," said Ferrel Guillory, director of the Program on Southern Politics, Media and Public Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "People tend to think of them differently."

For years, however, the difference between cashing chips at the craps table and buying a lottery ticket along with a tank of gas at the convenience store hasn't been enough to overcome the state's resistance to a lottery.

North Carolina is the largest of the 10 states nationwide that don't have some kind of government-run gambling.

An alliance of liberals and conservatives, making the familiar antigambling argument that lotteries place a disproportionate financial burden on the poor and can lead to financial strains in families, have successfully limited the only form of gambling in the state to restrictive video-based games at a single American Indian casino, as well as some convenience stores and similar locations.

The strength of the economy also kept back attempts to start a lottery. But the decline of the state's once-strong textiles, tobacco, and manufacturing industries have helped create significant budget shortfalls. And since he was first elected in 2000, Democratic Gov. Mike Easley has adamantly promoted a lottery.

His lobbying and economic reality have gradually weakened lawmakers' resistance. House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg, began endorsing a lottery this session after years of indifference.

This year, the Senate's proposed budget included conditional language about how to spend proceeds from a lottery, if one were approved. The separate bill that would actually create the lottery was passed by the House on April 6 -- with two votes to spare -- and now awaits Senate action.

Targeting the lottery's proceeds for education, rather than adding the profits to the general fund for unspecified uses, has helped Easley and other staunch supporters make a final push.

That's the argument supporters in Georgia used to pass that state's lottery in 1992, and that success has provided political cover for fellow state leaders looking for ways to generate revenue without raising taxes, Guillory said.

"Georgia taught us that you could dedicate it and make it stick," Guillory said. "That's basically what Easley's arguing here, that he's gonna follow the Georgia model."

And tapping regional rivalries doesn't hurt. Supporters in North Carolina say a lottery would capture the millions of dollars spent by its citizens on lotteries in Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia.

But joining that crowd, said Charles Clotfelter, a professor of economics and law at Duke University who has studied lotteries, "might undercut the moral authority of the state" by hurting the 1 to 2 percent of the general population that's addicted to gambling.

Supporters in the state Legislature have pledged to use some lottery proceeds to assist problem gamblers, but that's not much consolation to those who work with gambling addicts.

"It's going to be bad news for problem gamblers," Clotfelter said. "The key for these people is just the availability. It makes it too easy to do."

AP

Comments

CASH Only

NC needs a lottery. Period.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

yeah because south carolina is making millions off of north carolina residents.its stupid if the politicians get in the way of this.......

CASH Only

NC is losing to all neighboring states.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i forgot about that.georgia,virginia and tennessee are others they are losing money to.

wizeguy's avatarwizeguy

NC can still blow it. I hope they don't. Lottery only passed in the House by 2 votes and any changes the Senate makes need to be reconciled with the House.

spookysoozy's avatarspookysoozy

 

 I lived there 5 years.When they eliminate liquor and the topless bars they can really clean up all the addictions. ( give me a break )

donaldbst

I hope we get the lottery, but nothing in this state surprises me , we are always the last to get anything done.  tk

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

 

 I lived there 5 years.When they eliminate liquor and the topless bars they can really clean up all the addictions. ( give me a break )

I Agree!

Rip Snorter

"The lottery will hurt a lot of people. It's a tax on the poor. It affects families," said Tom Spampinato of Cary, who spent 22 years battling a gambling addiction. He is now interim director of the state chapter of Gamblers Anonymous, an organization he's been affiliated with for 27 years.

Ever noticed there's no one more obnoxious, rude, sanctimonious about smoking than a reformed smoker?

I respect alcoholics anon a lot.... I don't know why people need it to quit being drunks, but I acknowledge some do, and I respect the organization.  But at the end of the day, I can testify from personal experience that the way you quit drinking is by quitting drinking.  In times past when I've quit smoking I did it by quitting smoking.  When I want to quit gambling, I'll do it that way.  I'll quit gambling.

I find it mildly irritating when I see statements such as this one, pure hogwash, treated seriously by the serious people who are considering lofty questions such as freedom of choice of all the citizenry.  If lotteries are a tax, they're a voluntary one with the taxees being adults with a lot larger opportunities to screw up their lives than a lottery, comes to that. (I agree with you Lottomike, though I have no objection to tittie bars except the ennui and the people inside them).

Jack

 

dvdiva's avatardvdiva

yeah because south carolina is making millions off of north carolina residents.its stupid if the politicians get in the way of this.......

You are talking about politicians. Politicians never let stupidity get in their way.

ajbb's avatarajbb

i live here in north carolina and we need a lottery. its a bunch of bull that the lottery will be hard on the poor. stop making excuses and give the people what the people want LOTTERY

CASH Only

I Agree!

lorreen

This reply is to  Tom Spampinato just because you have an addiction does not justify that everyone has an addiction.  North Carolina resident's deserve to have a lottery and put the money into the state instead of giving money to other states.  Individuals you have recoverd from addiction seem to want to hinder everyone around them.  I am an addiction therapist, and one thing about addiction is that individuals with the addiction learn to stay abstinent and know that not everyone is the same as them.  Your addiction is your's and your's alone, do not drag your addiction into the one thing that would help NC.  It would be the same as saying close all bars and clubs because it promots alcohol and it interferes with my sobriety.  Deal with your addiction and leave the population out of it.  If you can not handle your addiction then seek counseling to deal with it, remember live by the 12 step program and be concerned about yourself and not others who you are hindering.  My thoughts in a nutshell

 

 

Lorreen

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

I Agree!

hysmith

BananaYou talk about folk becoming addicted to gambling if North Carolina gets a Lottery..  Well, how do you think the ones who are addicted already, got that way   North Carolina don't even have it yet..   So you can't bace addiction on North Carolina's games.  They got that way from other states..  So, why should North Carolina make them well?   It didn't make them addicted.  So I don't see that as being a good reason to not have a lottery in North Carolina.. If folk want to spend their money to gamble, then they are going to do it whether or not North Carolina has one. . Being poor is not an excuse either..  So many poor folk have become rich by playing the games.  That is a good thing.

Folk makes choices; even if they choose to gamble in other states.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

I Agree!

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

well its about time north carolina kept those dollars at home instead of making south carolina rich!

CASH Only

Or GA, TN, and VA.

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

thats definitely true...

LOTTOMIKE's avatarLOTTOMIKE

i live here in north carolina and we need a lottery. its a bunch of bull that the lottery will be hard on the poor. stop making excuses and give the people what the people want LOTTERY

i hope it happens and you get a lottery.

CASH Only

I think you should get a lottery too.

End of comments
Subscribe to this news story