N.C. pro-lottery group says tides are turning

Gary D. Robertson

Monday, June 3, 2002 | 9:27 a.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina's pro-lottery forces believe the state's fiscal crisis and South Carolina's entry into gambling will persuade enough lawmakers to get a lottery passed.

"We have desperate problems in North Carolina," said former U.S. Ambassador Mark Erwin of Charlotte, the chairman of a coalition that started campaign Wednesday to get lottery legislation approved.

While lottery opposition was fierce in the House last year, "I think there's a good chance that's changing," Erwin said.

The North Carolina Lottery for Education Coalition will use personal contact, e-mails and ads to persuade legislators opposed to a lottery or undecided to vote for one.

"Our intent is to be helpful in passing a lottery the state of North Carolina," coalition chairman Erwin said at a news conference at Wiley Elementary School in Raleigh.

Gov. Mike Easley tried last year to get lottery legislation passed, with net proceeds going to reduce public school class sizes and for his "More at Four" pre-kindergarten program. But efforts fizzled as the legislative session dragged on with redistricting and as lottery opponents mounted their own campaign.

The stage is set for a showdown during this year's session that began Tuesday as the state deals with its worst budget crisis in decades and fewer revenue streams to tap after higher taxes last year.

House Speaker Jim Black has said a lottery bill could be brought up for a vote in his chamber within the next two weeks.

Black and Senate leader Marc Basnight say they're polling members before moving ahead on any lottery proposal, which may or may not include a statewide referendum.

Erwin said North Carolinians will spend an estimated $250 million this year on lottery tickets in Georgia, Virginia and South Carolina, a figure challenged by a lottery opponent.

"There's an extraordinary overstatement ... by the lottery proponents," said Chuck Neely with Citizens United Against the Lottery, who estimates gross proceeds from the three states at closer to $140 million to $150 million.

Depending on who you talk to, estimates of net proceeds from a North Carolina lottery range from $300 million to more than $600 million annually.

Easley's proposed budget for next fiscal year figures $250 million in net proceeds from a lottery, with $54 million going to expand the governor's class size More at Four initiatives. The rest would be used for enrollment increases and teacher bonuses.

In the long term, the coalition would like to see constitutional limits placed on how lottery could be used to assure that proceeds would not supplant current education funds, Erwin said.

The coalition also is open to using net lottery proceeds for expanding other education programs, such as higher education needs or school construction.

"We have an awful lot of schools in our state with mobile units and crowded classrooms," John Harrison, executive director of the North Carolina Middle School Association, said.

Members of the coalition steering committee include former Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker and Paul Hardin, the former chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Neither attended a news conference in which the media outnumbered coalition members.