Less than a week before unveiling components of her budget for the new fiscal year, North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue is mum on whether state-run video gambling will be part of her revenue-generating strategy.
“I’m considering so many things it would boggle your mind,” Perdue said at press conference Tuesday. “We are looking at a complete re-set — making government more efficient, protecting teachers, and making sure that we can grow jobs. Those are my priorities. Anything that I can wrap around those priorities, I will consider.”
State legislators banned video poker outright beginning in 2007. Three years later, the General Assembly moved to eliminate the many Internet sweepstakes parlors that had cropped up since the video-poker ban went into effect.
Despite voicing support for the ban in the past, Perdue has hinted in recent months that legalizing and regulating the games could help shore up a projected $3.7 billion shortfall in the state budget. She could propose as much in her State of the State address Monday.
That might set up a fight with the legislature’s Republican majorities and advocacy groups concerned about the social and fiscal implications of state-run video gambling.
Asked on Tuesday whether he would support lifting the ban, Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, an Eden Republican, said it’s premature to consider the option until the courts have determined whether the sweepstakes ban is constitutional.
“My personal opinion is that if the courts say the ban is a ban that can be enforced, then that should be, at least for the time being, the last chapter in that particular story,” Berger said.
In January, Berger said that legislators shouldn’t rely on video-poker revenue as a solution for the state government’s budget woes.
In another hint that Perdue is on track to propose a regulated video-poker industry, the state’s government-run lottery on Monday sought information from companies on how best to operate video-gambling machines. As lieutenant governor in 2005, Perdue cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate to legalize the lottery.
Beyond the limited-government implications, other lawmakers are concerned about the impact that making video poker more readily available would have on families.
“If it passes, on the books it might show that it’s bringing in extra revenue, but what are the detrimental effects?” said Rep. Mark Hilton, R-Catawba. “If you look at the cost-benefit analysis, overall we’ll lose.”
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.