N.C. to become the final state on the East Coast to start lottery

Gary D. Robertson

Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina is set to become the final state on the East Coast to start a lottery after the lieutenant governor broke a Senate tie Tuesday, voting to create a game supporters have sought for more than 20 years.

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Senate's presiding officer, sided with most of her Democratic colleagues when she broke the 24-24 tie. Gov. Mike Easley is expected to sign the legislation creating the lottery, a cause he has championed since his election in 2001.

"I did what I thought was right," Perdue said.

Polls have shown that most state residents want a lottery, but last week the game appeared to have once again died in the Legislature. The Senate left Raleigh unable to persuade one of the five Democrats and all 21 Republicans who opposed the lottery for weeks to switch sides. Senate leader Marc Basnight promised the chamber was done for the year and would not return.

But Basnight, a Democrat from coastal Dare County, changed his mind Friday. And with two Republican senators absent Tuesday, Democrats had the votes -- with Perdue's help -- to push through the lottery legislation.

An April vote in the House was nearly as close, with the lottery passing by just two votes. The legislation will funnel an estimated $400 million annually to public school construction, college scholarships and Easley's class-size reduction and preschool programs.

"This is a win for the 4-year-olds who require pre-K, the low-wealth counties that need assistance with school construction and the disadvantaged students trying to go to college," Easley said in a statement. A bill-signing ceremony was scheduled for today.

The news raised the spirits of North Carolina residents who travel to surrounding states to play the lottery. Up to 10 percent of lottery revenues in Virginia come from Tar Heel players. The amount is higher in South Carolina, which started its game in 2002.

"Oh yes!" Tammy Anderson, 41, of Huntersville, said at a lottery outlet in Fort Mill, S.C., just south of Charlotte. "I'm very happy because now I can play the lottery much closer to home."

The Senate adjourned soon after the lottery's passage. Basnight again said they wouldn't be back.

The two absent Republican senators, Harry Brown of Onslow County and John Garwood of Wilkes County, declined to use a parliamentary procedure that could have kept lottery supporters from winning.

Brown is on his honeymoon, and Garwood is recovering from a leg infection at his home. Neither immediately returned phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.

During the hourlong debate, Republican senators opposed to the lottery complained that Basnight shouldn't have allowed a vote on such short notice. Others questioned whether Tuesday's vote was constitutionality because the Senate didn't consider the bill on two separate days.

Basnight denied any wrongdoing.

"If you knew about it, and you wanted to be here, you could vote and speak," Basnight said. "I believe it was important just to get it behind us so that we can focus on other issues in this state. I just do not believe this was going to disappear."

The rest of the debate went along expected lines, with opponents criticizing the lottery as an inefficient and predatory way to raise revenue.

"Gambling is teaching our children and adults the wrong way to get ahead," said Sen. Jim Jacumin, a Republican from Burke County. "Senators, if God can't bless it, we shouldn't be doing it."

But North Carolina citizens already cross the border to other states to play the lottery, said Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, a Democrat from Cumberland County.

"The money has been leaving North Carolina," Rand said. "It's time to keep it at home."