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N.C. lottery vote today or SaturdayNews Story
Decision will be today or Saturday as backers seek to sway 'no' votersIt apparently takes some cajoling to change one vote.Backers of a North Carolina lottery spent Thursday trying to get a few senators to change their no votes to yes. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, a Dare Democrat and lottery supporter, said he will hold a vote today or Saturday and that his side is a couple votes short. He, other Senate leaders and staffers from Gov. Mike Easley's office could be seen chatting up
Aug 12, 2005, 10:14 am - Lottery News

N.C. lottery bill limits commercialsNews Story
North Carolina lawmakers are slapping limits on how much a proposed lottery can spend on advertising and what the commercials can say, but they may have underestimated both.The General Assembly is scheduled to vote this week on a state budget that includes a lottery. The lottery would be limited to spending 1 percent of its revenue on advertising. That figure, while in line with many lotteries, may not be enough for a lottery's first year. When we started out, we spent 3.1 percent, said Virgini
Aug 9, 2005, 12:35 pm - Lottery News

Even with revenue deal, start of N.C. lottery no sure betNews Story
House and Senate Democrats have agreed how to distribute lottery proceeds, but it's hardly a sure bet that North Carolina will become the last state on the East Coast to run a numbers game this year.The agreement, details of which were released late Monday with the final proposed $17.2 billion state budget for the coming year, includes a looser advertising policy than one approved by the House in April.Even if both chambers approve the budget later this week, the lottery language won't enact the
Aug 9, 2005, 8:37 am - Lottery News

North Carolina Lottery is a GoNews Story
Residents of the Tar Heel state will finally get a lottery, under terms worked out by the state's House and Senate Friday.The final budget plan allows North Carolina to start a lottery, advertise it, and spend the profits on teachers, school buildings, and scholarships for the needy.The compromise between House and Senate plans for a lottery virtually ensures that North Carolina will start a state numbers game during the next year. The lottery was the last disputed issue between the House and Se
Aug 6, 2005, 10:45 am - Lottery News

N.C. Democrats feel heat on lotteryNews Story
In North Carolina, legislative leaders trying to break a logjam on the state's budget are pressing reluctant House Democrats to support a much more aggressively advertised lottery than the version that squeaked through the House in April.Several House members have opposed a lottery that would attract ticket buyers through billboard, TV and radio campaigns that promote big-dollar jackpots. They fear such a lottery would prey on people who could least afford to play it.In exchange for supporting a
Aug 3, 2005, 8:09 am - Lottery News

Still no consensus in N.C. lottery talksNews Story
Differences over a proposed North Carolina lottery surfaced from the budget negotiations Monday, as time dwindled before an end-of-the-week deadline to approve a spending plan for state government.North Carolina is the only East Coast state without a numbers game, but House and Senate leaders and Gov. Mike Easley all Democrats are trying to create one before the Legislature adjourns for the year.The House passed a lottery game in April by a two-vote margin. But the Senate approved a budget p
Aug 2, 2005, 8:42 am - Lottery News

North Carolina Still Working To Establish LotteryNews Story
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 i
Jul 1, 2005, 12:18 pm - Lottery News

N.C. lottery talk building to a climaxNews Story
With passage of a $17.1 billion budget bill by the North Carolina House of Representatives last week, the lottery debate is heating up in North Carolina.Lottery provisions have been included in the budget plan if it does become law. But much negotiation remains between the Senate and the House before that comes to pass, and the lottery could be on shaky ground. We're just hoping the Senate will go along with the House version, said state Rep. Jim Crawford (D-32nd), who represents Granville and
Jun 20, 2005, 3:48 pm - Lottery News

N.C. lottery still in limbo as budget talks continueNews Story
North Carolina Governor Mike Easley kicked off budget negotiations with House and Senate leaders by pushing for an aggressively advertised lottery that he would clearly control. The governor indicated that he would like to change some of the lottery language, and that's something we'd have to speak to the members about, House Speaker Jim Black said early Thursday, just after passage of the House's $17 billion budget proposal.A lottery proposal that narrowly passed the House in April only allows
Jun 17, 2005, 1:06 pm - Lottery News

N.C. gets lottery advice from Georgia, FloridaNews Story
Even as a gaming advocate, Steve Geller offers a bit of caution as North Carolina considers sanctioning a state lottery don't promise too much.Geller's home state of Florida has shipped $14 billion in lottery profits to a state education trust fund since the lottery's 1988 beginning.But it hasn't been nearly enough to escape the sort of criticisms that have come with lotteries nationwide, especially ones intended to help pay for education initiatives. It will help education, but it will never
Jun 6, 2005, 10:27 am - Lottery News