North Carolina: Casino legalization "doomed" by challenging process, says House Speaker

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore

2023-10-11

United States

Reading time 2:11 min

North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore has stated that the attempt to legalize new casinos through the state budget ultimately “doomed” the proposal, but noted it could potentially be revisited in next year's legislative session.

Speaking to the press, Moore reiterated his support for the idea of authorizing four new casinos and video lottery terminals within North Carolina, the latter to be situated in establishments such as bars and restaurants, FOX8 reported. Nevertheless, he does not foresee any immediate action on this issue for the remainder of the current year.

“It makes sense to me to do it. The way that it was done, the way in not going through a committee process as we did on the sports betting, I think – like you used the word earlier ‘doomed’ it – I think it did,” he was quoted as saying in the report.

Senate leader Phil Berger had pushed for the inclusion of the gambling proposal within the state budget. The final details of this plan only emerged a few days prior to the budget's public release, which raised concerns among some Republicans, notably in the state House of Representatives. Many felt inadequately informed about the proposal and were afforded limited opportunity to provide input.

It is worth noting that the state budget is subject to an all-or-nothing vote, with no amendments permitted once it reaches the floor for consideration. “There were people who probably would have supported it as a standalone bill who just felt like the way it was being done and not having any input in it, didn’t work,” Moore said.

He indicated that the next opportunity for the casino proposal to resurface would likely not arise until the short legislative session in the following year, following the primary election scheduled for March.

While Moore expressed his support for the concept, he suggested that the leading proponents of the proposal should focus on garnering additional support in the coming months if they intend to make another attempt at passing it.

“It’s not something that I’m gonna be carrying the water on. But, they need to go out and work with their colleagues and try to get those votes for it,” Moore said, as per the report. “It starts off with sort of backing up, getting past a lot of the crazy emotion that got around this thing for some reason, and talking about the facts.”

Moore further noted that a clearer specification of how the generated revenue would be allocated, beyond bolstering the state's general fund or offsetting tax cuts, could potentially garner more legislative support.

The recently unveiled legislation had outlined the establishment of four casinos, with one of them intended for Lumbee tribal land. The proposed bill set forth specific criteria for the potential locations of the other three casinos, though it was widely expected that they would be situated in Nash, Anson, and Rockingham counties.

It was last month that North Carolina Republican legislative leaders decided to ditch their efforts to expand legal gambling in the state. Instead, they agreed to pass a final budget without the much-discussed provisions to allow the casinos in the state. Later, against a backdrop of bipartisan tensions, the government approved the new $30 billion budget for the fiscal year 2023-24.