NC Justice Center urges NC Lottery Commission against expanding online gaming options

Online gaming unlikely to provide needed revenue, likely to harm families, communities, and businesses, the organization writes in a letter to the Commission

RALEIGH (December 13, 2019) – The NC Justice Center delivered a letter to the NC Lottery Commission on Thursday, urging the Commission to not take up or approve the expansion of online gaming options, which are unlikely to provide increased revenue and instead harm families, communities, and businesses.

In a letter addressed to Courtney Crowder, Chairperson of the Commission, the Justice Center writes about its long-established position on the education lottery, which goes against the organization’s mission to ensure state anti-poverty programs are implementing best practices effectively, efficiently, and equitably.

“At the time the lottery was established, we worked across ideological lines to demonstrate the potential harm of a lottery to the state’s residents and the unsustainable, diminishing returns of the lottery as a revenue source for education,” the letter reads.

Research finds the purchase of lottery tickets is highest in North Carolina counties with the greatest levels of poverty, the letter reads. Instead of supplementing the state’s commitment to public education, lottery funds have served as a replacement, in turn failing to drive revenue toward investment the state needs to ensure every child’s constitutional right to a sound, basic education.

Expanding gaming options won’t fix the limits and harms that the lottery creates for families and communities. Additionally, proposed limits on account funding are insufficient at $2,000 a week or $4,000 a month, as being discussed, to protect people from debt and potential predatory practices that could come with it.

“The evidence is clear that on-line games are even more regressive than typical Powerball lottery games and that there are significant harms not just to families but to the stability and well-being across generations,” the letter reads.

Read the full letter at this link: https://www.ncjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/NC-Justice-Center-Letter-to-NC-Lottery-Commission-12.12.19.pdf