Posted on 09/17/2002 6:54:37 AM PDT by jern
Posted on Tue, Sep. 17, 2002
House votes on lottery today Democrats tie plan for Nov. 5 referendum to delayed budget bill ANNA GRIFFIN AND SHARIF DURHAMS Staff Writers
RALEIGH - The N.C. House of Representatives will vote on both a lottery referendum and a budget today. But Democratic leaders are hedging their bets about whether tying the numbers game to the budget would save or sink it.
After hours of bleary-eyed backroom debate, legislative leaders went to bed Monday with a budget compromise that includes a Nov. 5 vote on the lottery as part of a $14 billion spending plan for 2002-03.
They won't decide until this morning, however, whether to stand by that decision when the full House meets today.
Lawmakers and lobbyists think it could be as close as one vote.
If the votes for a budget-lottery package aren't there, legislators will still consider the budget and the lottery, only separately.
"You don't know how people are going to vote until they push the button," said House Speaker Jim Black, D-Mecklenburg. "... You're going to get a lottery vote tomorrow."
If the lottery referendum is to be on the November ballot, lawmakers must vote for it this week. The ballot could go to the printers as early as Thursday. The budget is two months overdue.
Lawmakers have been debating the budget for months, struggling to fill a $1.5 billion gap between proposed spending and projected revenue. They've been debating the lottery for years, with pressure growing each time another state got the game.
It's at Gov. Mike Easley's insistence that Democratic leaders will ask their members today to slip the lottery into the budget, a move that violates General Assembly policy but not legislative precedent. Lawmakers aren't supposed to add contentious items to the budget at this stage of the debate, though they have done it before.
Easley campaigned on a lottery, claiming it could pay for two election promises -- the More at Four pre-kindergarten program and reduced class sizes in the state's public schools.
But though a lottery has been on the House agenda for weeks, Easley hasn't been able to win the votes necessary to put the game in front of the public.
Democrats hold a slim 62-58 majority in the House, and Republican leaders say all but one or two of their members will vote against a lottery.
Putting the lottery referendum into the budget increases the pressure on the half-dozen or so House Democrats who oppose the game but will be reluctant to vote against other state programs in the budget, such as the public schools, the state prison system and health care for the elderly.
"It's a form of blackmail," said Rep. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, a lottery opponent. "But it's a smart form of blackmail."
There's another political angle to the debate: Democratic consultant Gary Pearce says a nonbinding lottery referendum will help lure the game's supporters to the polls Nov. 5. Lottery proponents are, the thinking goes, more likely to vote Democratic.
With new Republican-friendly legislative districts taking effect, Democratic leaders really are betting the House -- and the Senate -- on the lottery.
"We need all the help we can get," said Sen. Aaron Plyler, D-Union, one of the budget writers. "North Carolina is going the other way pretty fast."
Neither lottery choice -- in the budget or out -- is a sure bet. Lottery opponents, a disparate group that includes conservatives and liberals, say they have the votes to defeat the game in a stand-alone vote in the House.
The Senate has supported a lottery in the past.
"We also think we have the votes to defeat the budget if they try to put the lottery in there," said Chuck Neely, a former state representative now heading an anti-lottery coalition. "We hope they don't do that, since it's just bad public policy."
Opponents warned Monday that a legal challenge could prevent a lottery from appearing on the Nov. 5 ballot even if the lottery wins legislative approval.
"There are going to be all kinds of challenges," said Sen. David Hoyle, D-Gaston. "Even if the thing passes, it's hard to believe they're going to have time to get it on the ballot."
Pubbies are 10 for 10 in Stephenson vs. Bartlett and would probably enjoy another fight.
CD
With new Republican-friendly legislative districts taking effect, Democratic leaders really are betting the House -- and the Senate -- on the lottery.
"We need all the help we can get," said Sen. Aaron Plyler, D-Union, one of the budget writers. "North Carolina is going the other way pretty fast."'
Not fast enough, Aaron. Not nearly fast enough.
Democrats to keep budget, lottery votes separate
RALEIGH (September 17, 2002)-- House Democrats have decided against pushing for a vote on a final spending bill that would include a lottery referendum.
Instead, House Speaker Jim Black said the House will vote on a separate lottery referendum bill Tuesday.
Black said the decision to remove the lottery provision from the budget and vote on it separately was made after what he called, "a lot of discussions with a lot of people."
Several legislators were uneasy with placing the referendum in the state's spending plan through next June, saying it was in neither the House nor the Senate version of the budget they passed earlier in the summer.
The House agreed late Monday to roll out a compromise $14.3 billion budget proposal with the Senate that, if approved, would let the voters have their say on whether they want a state-run numbers game.
With support for placing the lottery into the budget uncertain, Speaker Jim Black said he may decide Tuesday morning to delay a budget vote. If that occurs, Black said, the chamber will vote Tuesday on a referendum only.
Lottery supporters were running out of time to get a referendum on the Nov. 5 ballot - election officials have said they needed the question approved this week to print it on absentee ballots.
``We are going to run (a lottery bill) one way or the other,'' said Black, D-Mecklenburg, following a three-hour closed-door strategy session Monday night. ``It has to be run (Tuesday).''
Democratic Gov. Mike Easley has repeatedly pushed a lottery as a way to pay for his education initiatives. A lottery would likely start up next spring if approved by the voters in the referendum.
At least five Democrats have been adamantly opposed to a lottery. Those legislators, when combined with most of the 58 Republicans expected to vote no on any budget, could be enough to kill any spending plan with a referendum inside.
Black said he didn't know if the budget bill with the referendum would pass: ``It's very close, very close. You don't know how people are going to vote until they push the button.''
Several legislators are uneasy with placing the referendum in the state's spending plan through next June, saying it was in neither the House nor the Senate version of the budget they passed earlier in the summer. Anti-lottery groups say that violates legislative rules.
``They're forcing members to vote on one of the most significant issues of the past decade with no opportunity for significant debate or discussion,'' said John Rustin with the North Carolina Family Policy Council.
Other parts of the final compromise spending plan would include a seniority-based salary increase averaging less than 1.9 percent but no pay raises for rank-and-file state employees.
The General Assembly also would give Easley the flexibility in the bill to cut another $111 million in spending as he sees fit to ensure the budget is balanced.
Budget negotiations have been going on for nearly five weeks. Members of a conference committee working on differences in competing House and Senate budget proposals met long hours behind closed doors over the weekend and Monday.
Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
This may be good news. My guess is that the Dems counted noses, and determined that they couldn't pass the budget with the lottery referendum in the bill. The whole idea of combining the two, of course, was to force a few anti-lottery Dems to vote yes, or be criticized for thwarting the budget. Since this evidently didn't work, and the lottery referendum vote wouldn't pass with the budget, can we surmise that the lottery referendum bill will fail without the budget?
Yea 50
nay 69
No matter how you feel about the lottery per se, this vote bodes extremely well for the Republicans' chances of taking control of the NC House in the November elections.
No giant infusion of "soft money" into a pro-lottery campaign really designed to increase turnouts for Dems.
A few pro-lottery Dems might stay home in November.
This makes Easley look like the fool he is. He may become a premature lame duck.
The entire budget process, including the referendum battle was a massive cluster-f**k from the beginning; voters may hold the Dems accountable.
I couldn't name a single personal friend, conservative or liberal who won't buy a few tickets each week. One close friend, a 55 year old church going Baptist, conservative Republican and lifetime NRA member from Hillsborough makes trips across the border to drop 10 or 20 dollars each week. Heck, half of my associates talk about how much gas they'll save each week not having to go up to South Hill.
There's a silent majority out there and you won't be able to identify them as easy because there aren't any political stripes with this issue.
Just callin' them the way I see 'em. The best part about it though is that if you don't want to "volunteer a contribution" with this tax, you won't have to. (Unless that Power Ball gets up into the nine figure range than that little evil AppyPappy jumps up on your shoulder and starts whispering in your ear... "200 MILLION, APPY, 200 MMMMMMMillionnnnnn...")
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