North Carolina Senate leader Marc Basnight said Wednesday that he doesn't want to rush a lottery bill to a vote.
"We have no plans whatsoever," the Manteo Democrat said.
Basnight said he wants to give senators time to discuss options. The Senate also might combine a lottery bill with new taxes.
The Senate has been considered the more lottery-friendly of the two chambers, having passed lottery bills in 1989, 1991 and 1993. The Senate defeated a lottery plan in 1995.
In 1993, when lawmakers approved a citizen vote on the lottery, Democrats held a 39-11 advantage in the Senate. The Senate passed that lottery referendum bill 27-23.
Democrats now hold a 29-21 advantage, and at least three, Janet Cowell of Raleigh, Ellie Kinnaird of Carrboro and Martin Nesbitt of Asheville, say they won't vote for a stand-alone lottery law.
Sen. Tony Rand, the Senate majority leader, said he liked two big pieces of the House bill, the college scholarships based on need and the money for school construction.
"I'm delighted that's part of it," he said.
Rand said Senate Democrats need to talk about it among themselves and with House leaders.
Senate Republican leader Phil Berger of Eden said he doesn't know whether any GOP senators support a lottery or whether the group will vote against it as a bloc.
Senate Democratic leaders could decide to roll the lottery into the budget as a way to win Democratic votes.
Or, the Senate could package the lottery with increases in cigarette or alcohol taxes -- increases Senate Democrats have tried to persuade the House to pass for several years.
"We will consider things such as that," Basnight said. "We like those taxes."
Kinnaird said that such a combination is the only way she could vote for a lottery.
"The lottery is a bad idea unless they put it with a tobacco tax and alcohol tax," she said. "If they packaged it, I would be hard put to vote against it."
House Speaker Jim Black warned that any tinkering could jeopardize the one-vote lottery majority in his chamber.
"If it comes back to us, depending on the changes, it would be a very delicate balance," he said. "I don't want to deal with this any more."
Quote:Originally posted by LOTTOMIKE on April 7, 2005 i hope they get this...
The comment in the aritcle about being tired of dealing with the lottery issue reminds me of when Louisiana had its statewide lottery referendum in 1990. Many lottery opponents in our legislature actually voted for the referendum saying they wanted to settle the issue for once and for all. One actually thought the people would vote against it and the lottery issue would be overwith.
Louisiana's voters voted for a lottery with 69.2% of the population voting in favor of it. North Carolina needs to do the same thing; put it on the ballot and let the people decide. To those lottery opponents; just because it gets on the ballot doesn't mean the people will vote for it. Alabama voted a lottery down a couple of years ago. I for one hope it gets voted in. Since my job requires occasional travel to Raleigh, having another lottery to play would be pretty cool.
They had it on the ballot and it passed but the people here don't care. It's a bunch of the stuck up people who don't want a lottery that stop this thing from going through.
http://www.nolotterync.com/
We need a citizens against this website. I'm tired of driving 30 mins to SC when I should be able to drive a mile down the road for tickets.
Quote:Originally posted by byroan on April 7, 2005
They had it on the ballot and it passed but the people here don't care. It's a bunch of the stuck up people who don't want a lottery that stop this thing from going through.
http://www.nolotterync.com/
We need a citizens against this website. I'm tired of driving 30 mins to SC when I should be able to drive a mile down the road for tickets.
This quote on the opening of the website got me.
"it is the mission of Citizens United Against the Lottery to oppose efforts by the out-of-state gambling industry to impose a state run lottery on the citizens of North Carolina."
It should be up to the people of North Carolina to decide if they want a lottery. Louisiana voted one in in 1990, while just a couple of years ago, the people of Alabama voted against a lottery. If the people vote in a state lottery, how can it be the out of state gambling industry?
In another page on the site, the City News Stand here in Baton Rouge was mentioned. Even though they no longer sell lottery tickets, there are still alot of other places that do. Most of the convenience store gas stations sell them, as do most of the supermarkets. Just because one business found lottery tickets to not be a profitable item doesn't mean other business have had the same experience. I also read on this website about how the Atlanta airport's news stands sold lottery tickets for a while but gave them up for the same reason, they reduced sales of other items. Perhaps that is one business that doesn't benefit from lottery sales.
I tend to think these are like you said, some stuck up people. I wonder what these people would have done if a lottery had never been mentioned and instead someone had talked about raising taxes. I'm sure they would have had something to say.
Why is it that the state that produces tobacco products, that cause cancer and other diseases, is too "politically" and/or "religously" correct to have a lottery. They have no problems deriving revenues from products that can kill people but seem to be in an upheaval over a lottery that would actually be fun. And since most of the people who are going to play do so already, by going to one of the neighboring states that have a lottery, it doesn't seem that it will cause any "problems" by getting their own lottery. I am sure I am not the only one to notice that almost every time South Carolina has a winner in Powerball that person actually lives in NORTH Carolina!!!
i hope they get this...
The comment in the aritcle about being tired of dealing with the lottery issue reminds me of when Louisiana had its statewide lottery referendum in 1990. Many lottery opponents in our legislature actually voted for the referendum saying they wanted to settle the issue for once and for all. One actually thought the people would vote against it and the lottery issue would be overwith.
Louisiana's voters voted for a lottery with 69.2% of the population voting in favor of it. North Carolina needs to do the same thing; put it on the ballot and let the people decide. To those lottery opponents; just because it gets on the ballot doesn't mean the people will vote for it. Alabama voted a lottery down a couple of years ago. I for one hope it gets voted in. Since my job requires occasional travel to Raleigh, having another lottery to play would be pretty cool.
PrisonerSix
They had it on the ballot and it passed but the people here don't care. It's a bunch of the stuck up people who don't want a lottery that stop this thing from going through.
http://www.nolotterync.com/
We need a citizens against this website. I'm tired of driving 30 mins to SC when I should be able to drive a mile down the road for tickets.
This quote on the opening of the website got me.
"it is the mission of Citizens United Against the Lottery to oppose efforts by the out-of-state gambling industry to impose a state run lottery on the citizens of North Carolina."
It should be up to the people of North Carolina to decide if they want a lottery. Louisiana voted one in in 1990, while just a couple of years ago, the people of Alabama voted against a lottery. If the people vote in a state lottery, how can it be the out of state gambling industry?
In another page on the site, the City News Stand here in Baton Rouge was mentioned. Even though they no longer sell lottery tickets, there are still alot of other places that do. Most of the convenience store gas stations sell them, as do most of the supermarkets. Just because one business found lottery tickets to not be a profitable item doesn't mean other business have had the same experience. I also read on this website about how the Atlanta airport's news stands sold lottery tickets for a while but gave them up for the same reason, they reduced sales of other items. Perhaps that is one business that doesn't benefit from lottery sales.
I tend to think these are like you said, some stuck up people. I wonder what these people would have done if a lottery had never been mentioned and instead someone had talked about raising taxes. I'm sure they would have had something to say.
PrisonerSix
Why is it that the state that produces tobacco products, that cause cancer and other diseases, is too "politically" and/or "religously" correct to have a lottery. They have no problems deriving revenues from products that can kill people but seem to be in an upheaval over a lottery that would actually be fun. And since most of the people who are going to play do so already, by going to one of the neighboring states that have a lottery, it doesn't seem that it will cause any "problems" by getting their own lottery. I am sure I am not the only one to notice that almost every time South Carolina has a winner in Powerball that person actually lives in NORTH Carolina!!!