Assembly Democrats vow to resurrect lottery issue

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, May 17, 2005 | 10:53 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Assembly Democrats vowed to revive their idea for a state lottery on Monday, though the senator who halted the bill said he isn't changing his mind.

"That's news to me," said Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Assembly Joint Resolution 2 would allow voters to approve a state-run lottery to fund education. The idea would have to go before voters twice because the state constitution currently bans a lottery.

Democrats say the lottery could raise $40 million to $50 million a year for textbooks, classroom supplies and class-size reduction.

The bill stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Amodei said the bill was a cumbersome way to raise money for schools.

He also said during the hearing he didn't want to create a new industry to compete -- directly or indirectly -- with gaming, the state's largest industry.

The committee would have to approve the bill by Friday, a key deadline to clear bills out of committees.

On Monday Amodei said, "I can promise you I'm not going to call it up tomorrow and that's the only meeting we have scheduled."

During the hearing last month, several committee members said the state should increase funding for education through other routes.

Democrats have said that classrooms are desperately lacking money for textbooks around the state, with many students having to share books or not having books to take home and study.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, routinely shows a Nevada history book used in a Carson City school that isn't updated to include Gov. Kenny Guinn, who was elected in 1998. Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said some school maps aren't updated to reflect the end of the USSR.

Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, spoke up in the April committee hearing, saying he was frustrated there were no other proposals in the works to route money to textbooks.

And on Monday, Horsford said there still is no plan.

"We have three weeks left to go and as you can see, lottery is the only thing on the table to fully fund textbooks," he said.

Perkins said he's willing to work with senators to address some concerns. When asked if he was willing to amend the lottery into another bill that already has cleared the Senate, Perkins simply said there are a number of procedural ways he can revive the plan.

"All I can tell you is the lottery is a very high priority for Nevada," he said.

Some legislators also argue that low income residents would spend their money on the lottery, basically creating a tax on the poor.

Democrats argue that many people are playing the lottery anyway in Arizona or California, so the state should keep the money in its own borders.

According to a study of Clark County residents released last month, about 30 percent of people older than 21 play an out-of-state lottery.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority study also found that 36 percent of residents who have played the lottery make $50,000 a year or more, 33 percent are homeowners and 35 percent gamble in other ways.