Hold on to your wallets: Lady Luck will soon be tempting the self-restraint of North Carolinians around the state. Legislation creating a state lottery passed on Tuesday, and was quickly signed into law by Governor Easley yesterday.
The behind-the-scenes political maneuvering was suspect any way you slice it: Marc Basnight, president pro tem of the Senate, took advantage of the absence of two lottery opponents to push for a vote once the numbers were to his liking. Lt. Governor Beverly Perdue cast the tie-breaking vote. I suspect our 2005 “long session” lasted just “long” enough for the numbers to break Basnight’s way.
What kind of money will the lottery bring to our state? It’s hard to say, since we don’t know for sure how many North Carolinians will actually play the lottery. It’s unlikely that Easley’s estimates of a lottery raising $400-$500 million will prevail. However, dividing the spoils will be anything but easy.
According to current plans, fifteen percent of lottery revenue will go to administer the program. At least fifty percent will be returned to those who get “lucky” − in the form of prize money. The unlucky ones will pay this “new tax revenue.” (This reminds me of the saying, “Lottery: A tax on people who are bad at math.”) However, winners will also pay taxes. Senator Eddie Goodall has suggested directing these tax dollars back to teachers, yielding them an extra $500 to $800 a year, depending on the winnings.
Finally, one-third (thirty-five percent) of this “education lottery” is allocated for education. How will it be divided? Forty percent will go to the “Public School Building Capital Fund” (Article 38A of State Statue 115C). This fund will match three dollars to every one dollar appropriated by a county for capital building or equipment needs. But don’t forget to read the fine print that goes along with this fund.
Fifty percent of the revenue directed towards education will be spent to lower class size in early grades and for pre-kindergarten programs.
The final ten percent will be used for higher education scholarships. Amazingly, the General Assembly allows these scholarships to be used at private colleges and universities in North Carolina. Clearly, attaching money to students hasn’t destroyed the public university system in North Carolina. But when it comes to K-12 education, legislators balk at allowing this kind of educational freedom. As a result, our K-12 students have few educational options, with or without a lottery. Sounds pretty unlucky to me.