BestCraps.com

Boseman’s Bill Puts Video Gambling Under Lottery Commission Control

Posted on May 27th, 2010

News Sponsored by Online Vegas Casino

Rated 5 Stars by BestCraps.com

Read Review

Visit Casino

Download Software

————————————————

Sen. Julia Boseman, a Democrat from New Hanover County wants the North Carolina Lottery Commission to supervise video gambling once it is legalized in the state under a bill the senator is introducing. The Video Gaming Entertainment Act, according to Laura Holt-Kabel, Boseman’s research aide, is patterned after legislation in other states.

The proposal calls for video gambling in North Carolina to be licensed, regulated and taxed by the state. The bill, which was drawn up with some assistance from officials of the state lottery, also seeks to deal with the problem of sweepstakes parlors that have spread rapidly in different communities, particularly in the Wilmington area where lately several businesses have offered the games in their establishments.

Boseman said she is all for regulating the sweepstakes games, not banning them, as some people have suggested. As with the lottery, the state’s take from the machines would also be used to support the state’s capital development and for educational programs such as vocational courses and balanced school lunches intended to combat obesity in school children. Income for the state from video gambling is projected to be $576 million annually for the next three years, as per estimate by the North Carolina Lottery Commission. The estimated amount appears to be more than what the lottery has yielded. In the last fiscal year, revenue from lottery was $410 million.

Boseman’s bill provides that every machine would be assigned a permit which would be issued by the Lottery Commission. Applicants interested in operating the gambling machines must comply with the required background investigation for any criminal history, and must be at least 21 years old. The commission would also ask the operators to pay for a license that would expire in 10 years.

Yearly fees would also be imposed for each machine, proceeds of which will benefit the city or county where the machine is located, after deducting administrative expenses. The commission is also tasked to see to the regular electronic monitoring of the machines to prevent scheming operators from unlawfully tinkering with the machines for the purpose of falsifying his profits to his advantage. Holt-Kabel said the bill is quite strict on that part.
The bill would also not allow any establishment to open exclusively for video gambling.

The machines would have to be placed in bars, taverns and other businesses that are eligible to sell alcohol, and the number of machines to be limited to only 10 per establishment. This way, sweepstakes parlors would now be restricted from mushrooming everywhere, thus, rendering video gaming machines inaccessible to minors. Minors or those below 18 years of age are not allowed by the bill to play the gambling machines. A limit of up to $5 is allowed for a single bet.

Wilmington City Councilman Ron Sparks said the concept of putting the Lottery Commission in charge of regulating the gambling machines is a fine idea, but in his opinion, he said, the machines and the state lottery are a “tax on poor people.” The councilman, who has remained opposed to sweepstakes parlors, said he is in favour of banning the machines and the lottery. “As a government, we shouldn’t be in that business,” Sparks said.

Holt-Kabel said Boseman and her legislative staff believe the proposal will come up against a great deal of resistance especially from family-based and religious organizations and other gambling critics. However, Holt-Kabel said the big revenue estimated to be generated by the measure is not something to be dismissed by the bill’s opponents.

The executive director of the North Carolina Education Lottery To Shaheen said lottery officials are not taking sides on the issue. He said if Boseman’s bill makes it through the Legislature, then they will definitely work in bringing about the process which he expects could take them about six to eight months to accomplish.