Little did we know that the stain of dishonesty would start to spread before this unwise venture into institutionalized gambling even had a chance to become law. But that’s what happened this past week in Raleigh.
As sneaky parliamentary maneuvers go, this one takes the cake. The state Senate hasn’t yet debated, much less voted on, the lottery bill passed by the House. Yet Senate leaders saw fit to write a 13-page amendment to this nonexistent lottery bill and tack it onto the budget bill that is now up for Senate consideration. The budget must be voted on before the lottery bill. It’s like trying to get someone to buy a saddle before he’s even got a horse to put it on.
Setting a Trap
Why would anyone take such a backwards approach? Simple. There are a lot of things in this budget that individual senators want badly and have fought for — things like more funding for social programs and education. Now those who consider the lottery a bad thing can’t vote against it without also voting against a lot of good things.
(They would also be voting against some other bad things contained in the budget as well, such as an ill-conceived proposal to weaken the University of North Carolina system by giving separate authority over tuition increases to the Chapel Hill and State campuses. But that’s a subject for another day.)
The lottery provision has another revealing aspect. Proponents of the lottery have always said the state would earmark lottery proceeds to fund educational programs. Opponents have long contended that funds from a lottery would ultimately supplant other sources of educational revenue rather than supplementing them. Thus we would be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
And sure enough, the budget the Senate is now being asked to approve would substitute about $70 million in lottery income for money that now comes from corporate income taxes.
Tax Cut for Wealthy?
Yes, that’s right. At a time of severe budget stress, when Medicaid cuts threaten to leave thousands of poor people without health care, we’re talking a tax cut for the state’s wealthiest individuals and companies.
Rep. Edd Nye, a Bladen County Democrat, calls the lottery amendment a “poison pill” and says he’s not about to swallow it, no matter how many desirable features the budget may otherwise include. “They can’t wrap it in enough paper to make me like the lottery,” he told a reporter.
Right on. If enough other senators take the same stand, which is what they should do as a matter of principle, the Senate leaders’ cynical ploy will backfire on them.
