From: infoweb@newsbank.com Sent: Thursday, May 08, 2008 11:13 AM To: Gerald Witt Subject: Requested NewsBank Article(s) ================================================== Lottery may - funnel less into schools ================================================== Greensboro News & Record (NC)-July 27, 2007 Author: MARK BINKER RALEIGH - A key component of the 2005 lottery law, aimed at assuring a minimum amount of proceeds go toward education, would be waived by a provision in a tentative budget deal reached Wednesday. House and Senate budget negotiators are working out the final details on the state's $20 billion tax and spending plan, now a month overdue. Votes likely will take place over the weekend, and the lottery provision would be approved as part of the larger package. The change to the lottery's funding formula is aimed at enticing more players to buy North Carolina lottery tickets rather than seeking richer payouts in other states. That, in turn, is expected to pump up lottery proceeds, which fell about $110 million short of expectations during its first full year of operation. "I guess we all anticipated this," said Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat and lottery critic who voted no on the bill in 2005. "Those of us who voted against the bill were worried that all these restrictions and safeguards would be removed." As originally passed in 2005, the bill required that at least 35 percent of the money earned by the game would be turned over to education. The measure also set other limits, such as constraining the lottery to spending no more than 1 percent of its revenues on advertising. Those limits would become "guidelines" under language agreed to by budget negotiators - including House Speaker Joe Hackney and Greensboro Democrats Sen. Kay Hagan and Reps. Maggie Jeffus and Alma Adams. "I think it is unfortunate that they are going to go on the course of trying to entice more and more people to gamble their money," said Sen. Phil Berger, a Rockingham County Republican and critic of the lottery. Berger said that he was concerned that if the theory behind giving the lottery more flexibility didn't pan out, it would put even less money into education. "It sounded ridiculous to me when I first heard it, too," Hagan said of the notion that the lottery could raise more money by letting it put more toward prizes. "I have since been convinced there is a difference." North Carolina law requires that half of game revenues be returned to players as prizes. Virginia typically returns between 55 percent and 58 percent of its revenues as prizes to players. "I don't see it being a major departure from what we've done," said Linda Carlisle, a lottery commissioner from Greensboro. "From a business perspective, it gives us the flexibility to be responsive to market needs and customers." Carlisle said the lottery commission would likely use its new authority sparingly, testing it on a few games to make sure the higher payouts yield higher dividends. "I think it would be used on a very selective basis," she said. Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mbinker@news-record.com. Memo: * A state budget deal may change the formula to entice more players. Edition: Greensboro Edtion Variation Section: Triad Classifiedsdeasomeseneral News Page: A1 Dateline: RALEIGH Record Number: 070717064941 Copyright (c) 2007 Greensboro News & Record