It looks as if there may be changes to the law governing North Carolina’s state-run, state-endorsed gambling operation known as the Education Lottery. I’m still waiting for momentum to come around to my view that North Carolina should get out of the gambling business altogether. I’m not opposed to gambling itself; people have the right to voluntarily throw away their money on foolish things and/or engage in gambling as entertainment. The state, however, should leave gambling up to private industry, which would create private sector jobs, pay taxes, and contribute to their communities as corporate citizens. It appears that Wake County Rep. Paul Stam and I share similar views. He’s signed on to a bill that takes “education” out of the name and makes changes to the advertising policy.
“This is the state of North Carolina lying to bettors,” said Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, the No. 2 leader in the House and a primary sponsor of the bill. Stam opposes the lottery and hopes one day the 2005 law creating the games is repealed. For now, he’d be pleased to see lottery sales reduced on the games, which he considers bad bets that prey upon low-income people.
