North Carolina citizens will not be voting in November on whether they would like a state lottery, as the state House rejected legislation Tuesday that would have put a lottery referendum on the ballot.
The 69-50 vote against a referendum represents a major defeat for Gov. Mike Easley, who was pushing the lottery as a means of funding various education initiatives--specifically those aimed at reducing class size and improving preschool education. However, concerns about the nature of the lottery and the revenue it would generate drove lawmakers to vote down the measure.
"It clearly sends a message that you can get something for nothing, that for a dollar or two you can win a jackpot," House Minority Leader Leo Daughtry, R-Johnston, said during the 2 1/2-hour debate. "It is not the right thing to do."
North Carolina is currently one of 12 states without a lottery, and the only one on the East Coast. Tennessee is the only neighboring state without a lottery.
Opponents of the measure said the lottery is an unreliable source of revenue, preys on the poor and creates compulsive gamblers. "People should look to us to encourage them to do things that are good for them, not to encourage them to throw their money down a rathole," said Rep. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe.
But lottery supporters cited the fact that North Carolinians will still go to neighboring states if they want to play the numbers. Each day, residents of North Carolina spend approximately $685,000 playing the lotteries in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia, said Mark Erwin, chair of the North Carolina Lottery for Education Coalition.
Easley, a Democrat, also chided legislators for failing to provide an alternative method of funding education initiatives for the state. Estimates suggest that a lottery could generate annual revenues of $250 million to $400 million, which the referendum would have earmarked for programs to help at-risk 4-year-olds and to shrink elementary class sizes. "It is unbelievable that the Legislature would deny the people of this state the right to vote on a lottery," he said.
According to polls, at least 70 percent of North Carolinians support an education lottery, Erwin said.
Speaker Jim Black said he believed the defeat would become a campaign issue for the GOP. All but three Republicans joined 14 Democrats in defeating the measure.
Originally, the House's Democratic leadership built the referendum into a $14.3 billion budget bill Monday. But Tuesday, Black decided to make the referendum a separate proposal.
The vote essentially ends debate on the lottery issue for the year, but the question is a perennial one and likely to arise in the future.
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