news-record.com

RALEIGH — A bill that would make video poker legal again in North Carolina got its first — and probably last — airing at the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Rep. Earl Jones, a Greensboro Democrat and the bill’s lone sponsor, found himself on a bit of a legislative island as the House Judiciary II Committee heard about his bill.

Lawmakers outlawed video poker in 2005 after law enforcement complaints that the machines were operated illegally. To boot, campaign contributions connected to video poker were part of a scandal that overtook then-Speaker Jim Black, a Matthews Democrat, who is now serving prison time on corruption charges.

“The main point to be made here is that poor government and public policy was responsible for allowing the problems that existed in the past,” Jones told members of the committee. “There’s no reason to think it wouldn’t run very smoothly in the state of North Carolina. But more importantly, citizens would benefit, schools would benefit.”

Thanks to three court rulings, including one by Guilford County Superior Court Judge John O. Craig, video poker is creeping back into the state. Sweepstakes-based computer games are popping up at bars and convenience stores.

“There’s a black cloud over the video poker industry,” said Chase Brooks, a spokesman for the group and the owner of an Alamance County company that distributes the video poker machines.

His group argues that the state should broaden what kind of games are allowed while at the same time regulating and taxing the machines. The group says North Carolina could rake in $480 million a year from such taxes — revenue that might seem tempting to lawmakers as they attempt to close a more than $4 billion budget gap.

But that idea drew opposition from multiple quarters.

“We can become so obsessed with the need for revenue that we make compromises that are entirely too costly,” said the Rev. Mark Creech, who leads the Christian Action League. Video poker, he said, is an addictive form of gambling that saps money from those who can least afford it.

The committee did not take a vote Tuesday. Rep. Jennifer Weiss, a Wake County Democrat and one of three vice chairmen of the committee, said the bill was heard only because Jones pushed for it. “To my mind, it’s unlikely we’d see it again,” Weiss said.

In fact, lawmakers are trying to find ways to stamp out the video sweepstakes machines and other vestiges of video poker.

“It’s like kudzu,” Sen. Tony Rand said. Like the persistent vine, video poker operators keep finding new ways to skirt what lawmakers thought was a straightforward ban on the games, the Fayetteville Democrat said.

The problem, say those trying to draft legislation, is that lawmakers want to ban video poker without outlawing the casino on the Cherokee Indian reservation and without prohibiting sweepstakes promotions like the McDonald’s Monopoly game or the under-the-cap promotions run by soft drink companies.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com