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North Dakota a Gambling Haven?News Story
Outside the Beltway, way out there in flyover land on the prairies of North Dakota, not all Republicans are lining up to support U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's call to ban Internet gambling. In fact, North Dakota State Rep. Jim Kasper says, My fellow Republicans just don't get it when it comes to Internet gambling. In July, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, which updates the 1961 Wire Act banning sports wagering o
Sep 16, 2006, 12:22 pm - Lottery News

Frist continues crusade against Internet gamblingNews Story
Senate Majority Leader Frist seeks to add Internet gambling ban to defense bill, sources say Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is trying use a bill authorizing U.S. military operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prohibit people from using credit cards to settle Internet gambling debts. Frist, R-Tenn., and his aides have been meeting with other lawmakers and officials in both the House and Senate to get the measure attached to a compromise Defense Department authorization bill,
Sep 14, 2006, 9:19 am - Lottery News

Banks balk at plan to cut off cash from net casinosNews Story
A group representing 5,000 small banks is opposing a tool lawmakers hope to use to stop online gambling, posing a challenge to what is widely seen as the government's best shot at cracking down on the activity. The Independent Community Bankers of America, whose members range from New York's Metropolitan National Bank to Colorado's First National Bank of Las Animas, is objecting to a proposal winding its way through Congress that would require financial institutions to block payments between
Aug 30, 2006, 12:22 pm - Lottery News

Lawmakers criticize Iowa Lottery bonusesNews Story
Iowa Lottery workers are about to receive up to $7,700 each in what their board calls incentive-based pay and what critics call politically tone-deaf bonuses. The lottery board voted 5-0 Thursday to split $385,710 among the agency's 116 employees, with each person receiving almost 6 percent of annual salary. The money is to be paid under a long-standing policy that rewards workers when the agency meets financial targets, lottery officials said. In this case, the lottery went almost $3 m
Aug 21, 2006, 12:30 pm - Lottery News

A million bad reasons to voteNews Story
Why the Arizona voter lottery is a terrible idea By Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe Arizona voters will face an embarrassment of electoral riches this fall, when as many as 19 proposed laws appear on the state ballot for their approval. Among the measures to be voted on are a 50 percent increase in state legislators' salaries, a constitutional amendment allowing bail to be denied to illegal aliens , and the designation of English as the state's official language. But one Arizona initiative ha
Aug 2, 2006, 9:41 am - Lottery News

N.C. legislature approves lottery oversight committeeNews Story
Lawmakers will be able to keep a close watch on North Carolina's newly adopted lottery under a bill passed Thursday night. Both chambers gave the measure final approval in an effort to ensure that the lottery money goes directly to education programs. The nine-member panel will review the lottery's annual revenue and make sure that the division's proceeds are not supplanting existing education funds. Oversight is needed to keep the General Assembly in touch with something as big as the lo
Jul 28, 2006, 8:21 am - Lottery News

N.J. Gov. wants video lotteryNews Story
Is Corzine trying to make up for his throwing away millions during lottery/casino shutdown? New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine, who cost the state millions of dollars in tax revenue by shutting down the state's lottery and casino games in a move to force legislators to accept massive tax increases, proposed Tuesday that New Jersey should add video lottery terminals. (See Budget Process Questioned After Shutdown, below.) The terminals have long been proposed for the Meadowlands and ot
Jul 26, 2006, 7:02 pm - Lottery News

$10 Billion Lottery Proposal Stalls in IllinoisNews Story
A proposal by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to increase funding for public education by selling or leasing the state lottery for $10 billion may be headed nowhere. Blagojevich announced the proposal with much fanfare on May 23, but no supporting legislation has been introduced, political leaders are peppering the governor with questions that have not been answered, and allegations of political payoffs and cronyism have surfaced. A key inquisitor has been state House Speaker Michael Mad
Jul 26, 2006, 6:11 pm - Lottery News

Bill would allow state leaders to remove N.C. lottery commissionersNews Story
North Carolina lottery commissioners could be stripped of their appointments for just cause under a bill recommended Tuesday by a House committee. The change comes after Kevin Geddings resigned from the commission last November as it was revealed he had worked for Scientific Games Corp., a company that tried unsuccessfully to win North Carolina's lottery business. House Speaker Jim Black appointed Geddings, but said later he wouldn't have had he known about Geddings' work with Scientific G
Jul 26, 2006, 4:35 pm - Lottery News

Internet gambling bill seen delayed in SenateNews Story
A bill to outlaw most forms of Internet gambling appears unlikely to win U.S. Senate passage before senators begin a month-long recess on August 4, two Republican leadership aides said on Tuesday. They said backers of the legislation were trying to build support for it and resolve differences as the Senate focuses on other legislative matters and gets ready for a summer break. The bill was not among the priorities outlined by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, durin
Jul 26, 2006, 3:04 pm - Lottery News