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Voters Up and Down on Gambling Measures
Gambling measures got a mixed reception from voters Tuesday.
South Carolinians approved a state lottery, as Arkansans rejected
a measure to set up a state lottery and allow casinos and charity
bingo. Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, a Baptist minister, declared
that government becomes "a pimp" when it uses lotteries to help
fill its treasury, even if the purpose is to support education.
South Carolina Gov. Jim Hodges staked his future on a state
lottery. Hodges cited the $115 million a year South Carolinians
spend on Georgia lottery tickets. Two bids to end particular
forms of gambling lost. : Massachusetts retained dog racing
while South Dakotans kept their state-run video lottery, as
well as voting to raise the limit on single bets in Deadwood
casinos to $100 from $5.
Greenbrier County, W.Va., rejected a proposal to turn a fallout
shelter built for Congress in the basement of the Greenbrier
resort into the state's first casino. Maine rejected a measure
allowing 1,500 video lottery machines at a race track. Voters
in New Mexico county rejected gaming. Wisconsin split on gambling
measures whilw Colorado approved expansion of their state lottery.
De Knudson of Sioux Falls, who led the effort to rid the state
of video gambling, was disappointed. But she said, "There will
be no rest for us until video gambling is totally eliminated
in South Dakota," Knudson said. "In fact, I believe this movement
is much akin to the slavery movement many years ago. Video gambling,
like slavery, is reprehensible and the great people of this
state will eventually abolish it." You'd think public advocates
would have learned the lesson of prohibition, and, would know
you can't legislate morality, but, foolish efforts like this
are just something legal gambling must put up with as it expands
across the country by the will of the majority.
Knudson, whose husband was once the governor's chief of staff
said, "I was hopeful that South Dakotans would see through the
scare tactics and just plain blatant lies that organized gambling
continued to use in their many commercials," she said. It is
unlikely the Legislature will decide to repeal video lottery,
Knudson added. "Many legislators, unfortunately, still worry
more about their political careers than they do about the many
gambling addicts in South Dakota," she said.
In South Carolina, the Democrat Governor Hodges sold the lottery
as a way to help fund education with an estimated $150 million
a year and recapture the millions of dollars South Carolinians
spend on the Georgia Lottery. "The voters have spoken loudly.
They believe in scholarships for well-deserving students in
South Carolina, they believe in helping technical college students
have a chance in to go to college in South Carolina," Hodges
said.
Separately, Virginians on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a
constitutional amendment guaranteeing that proceeds from the
state lottery will be used to support public education. Also,
in Gallup, N.M., McKinley County voters rejected casino and
racetrack gambling in the northwestern county.
Meanwhile, Voters in one Wisconsin community opted to support
a proposed tribal casino, while another county rejected a casino
plan in an advisory referendum vote.
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