Brad
08-31-2005, 03:29 AM
N.C. Senate Passes Lottery Bill By One Vote
Two Lottery Opponents Not At Legislature; Bill Awaits Gov. Easley's Signature
POSTED: 11:23 am EDT August 30, 2005
UPDATED: 9:19 pm EDT August 30, 2005
<!--startindex-->RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina has cleared a major hurdle in an effort to get a lottery. The state Senate came back to Raleigh Tuesday and approved a lottery by one vote.
The Senate vote was tied 24-24, but Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Senate's presiding officer, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of creating the lottery.
Gov. Mike Easley is expected to sign into law House Bill 1023 (http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2005&BillID=H1023) Wednesday.
"I did what I thought was right," Perdue said.
Before Tuesday, North Carolina was the only state on the East Coast without a state-run numbers game.
Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, brought up the bill for consideration about 1:15 p.m. Senate leader Marc Basnight told WRAL he called senators back to Raleigh because he thought the votes were there to pass a lottery.
Five Democrats and all 21 Republicans in the chamber opposed a lottery bill that would funnel net proceeds to public school construction, college scholarships and Easley's class-size reduction and preschool programs.
Two Republican senators who opposed the lottery -- Harry Brown of Onslow County and Robert Garwood of Wilkes County -- were not present at the Legislature for the vote. Both had received excused absences.
The state House approved the same bill in April by two votes, meaning the measure now heads to Easley.
"This is a win for the 4-year-olds who require pre-K, the low-wealth counties that need assistance with school constrtuction and the disadvantaged students trying to go to college," Easley said in a statement.
Lottery bills have floated through the General Assembly since the 1980s. Since then, North Carolina's neighbors had established games, and residents hoping to strike it rich traveled to Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to play the lottery in those states.
<!-- Earlier in the month, the Senate failed to vote on a lottery because they lacked enough votes for passage and couldn't sway lottery opponents to change their mind. Senate leaders said Tuesday they hoped by the end of the day to bring the game and the millions of dollars it's expected to generate to North Carolina.
The House passed a lottery bill in April, so passage of an identical bill by the Senate would send the measure to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature to be signed into law.
Garwood said Monday that he didn't plan to invoke a parliamentary procedure called "pairing" that is allowed under Senate rules to cancel out the vote of a lottery supporter in his absence. Senate Republicans attempted to persuade him to change his mind and find someone to pair with him.
"We're working on it," Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Tuesday morning. "We're only running out of time only if they call" the vote, he added.
Another targeted senator, Harry Brown, R-Onslow, is on his honeymoon. He also received an excused absence a prerequisite for pairing.
The procedure allows absent members to pair up with colleagues who will be present and would vote differently on a bill. Each "pair" effectively cancels out two votes so an absence doesn't change the outcome. Both the absent and present senator have to agree to the pair, which is a tradition designed to accommodate out-of-town senators.
Hoyle, a lottery supporter, said he would honor any pair request from a senator and doesn't want to end the tradition at the expense of passing a lottery.
If no one else changes their votes and Garwood and Brown don't obtain pairs, then the lottery vote would be deadlocked. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Senate president and a lottery supporter, would cast the tie-breaking vote.
After the Senate adjourned at 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, insisted the Senate wouldn't return to Raleigh for work until next spring.
But Basnight last Friday announced that senators would return for a floor session Tuesday morning. His reversal raised questions about whether Senate leaders would attempt again to run a lottery bill.
Easley has been pushing for a lottery since taking office in 2001. Easley officials contend a lottery would generate $400 million annually. North Carolina is the only state on the East Coast without a lottery. --><!--stopindex-->
Copyright 2005 by WRAL.com (ralnews@ibsys.com). The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Two Lottery Opponents Not At Legislature; Bill Awaits Gov. Easley's Signature
POSTED: 11:23 am EDT August 30, 2005
UPDATED: 9:19 pm EDT August 30, 2005
<!--startindex-->RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina has cleared a major hurdle in an effort to get a lottery. The state Senate came back to Raleigh Tuesday and approved a lottery by one vote.
The Senate vote was tied 24-24, but Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Senate's presiding officer, cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of creating the lottery.
Gov. Mike Easley is expected to sign into law House Bill 1023 (http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2005&BillID=H1023) Wednesday.
"I did what I thought was right," Perdue said.
Before Tuesday, North Carolina was the only state on the East Coast without a state-run numbers game.
Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, brought up the bill for consideration about 1:15 p.m. Senate leader Marc Basnight told WRAL he called senators back to Raleigh because he thought the votes were there to pass a lottery.
Five Democrats and all 21 Republicans in the chamber opposed a lottery bill that would funnel net proceeds to public school construction, college scholarships and Easley's class-size reduction and preschool programs.
Two Republican senators who opposed the lottery -- Harry Brown of Onslow County and Robert Garwood of Wilkes County -- were not present at the Legislature for the vote. Both had received excused absences.
The state House approved the same bill in April by two votes, meaning the measure now heads to Easley.
"This is a win for the 4-year-olds who require pre-K, the low-wealth counties that need assistance with school constrtuction and the disadvantaged students trying to go to college," Easley said in a statement.
Lottery bills have floated through the General Assembly since the 1980s. Since then, North Carolina's neighbors had established games, and residents hoping to strike it rich traveled to Virginia, South Carolina and Georgia to play the lottery in those states.
<!-- Earlier in the month, the Senate failed to vote on a lottery because they lacked enough votes for passage and couldn't sway lottery opponents to change their mind. Senate leaders said Tuesday they hoped by the end of the day to bring the game and the millions of dollars it's expected to generate to North Carolina.
The House passed a lottery bill in April, so passage of an identical bill by the Senate would send the measure to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature to be signed into law.
Garwood said Monday that he didn't plan to invoke a parliamentary procedure called "pairing" that is allowed under Senate rules to cancel out the vote of a lottery supporter in his absence. Senate Republicans attempted to persuade him to change his mind and find someone to pair with him.
"We're working on it," Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said Tuesday morning. "We're only running out of time only if they call" the vote, he added.
Another targeted senator, Harry Brown, R-Onslow, is on his honeymoon. He also received an excused absence a prerequisite for pairing.
The procedure allows absent members to pair up with colleagues who will be present and would vote differently on a bill. Each "pair" effectively cancels out two votes so an absence doesn't change the outcome. Both the absent and present senator have to agree to the pair, which is a tradition designed to accommodate out-of-town senators.
Hoyle, a lottery supporter, said he would honor any pair request from a senator and doesn't want to end the tradition at the expense of passing a lottery.
If no one else changes their votes and Garwood and Brown don't obtain pairs, then the lottery vote would be deadlocked. Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, the Senate president and a lottery supporter, would cast the tie-breaking vote.
After the Senate adjourned at 6:30 a.m. last Wednesday, Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, insisted the Senate wouldn't return to Raleigh for work until next spring.
But Basnight last Friday announced that senators would return for a floor session Tuesday morning. His reversal raised questions about whether Senate leaders would attempt again to run a lottery bill.
Easley has been pushing for a lottery since taking office in 2001. Easley officials contend a lottery would generate $400 million annually. North Carolina is the only state on the East Coast without a lottery. --><!--stopindex-->
Copyright 2005 by WRAL.com (ralnews@ibsys.com). The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.