NC residents speak out against proposed casinos
Good morning
Ladies and gentlemen I'd like to welcome everyone out to
Raleigh the big capital
Thank you for taking the time to attend our press
conference today
My name is Doug Isley
I'm a resident of Rockingham County
I'm a former school board member and I served on
the Rockingham County Planning Board
We have several speakers this morning
A few of our citizens are from Rockingham Nash and
Anson Counties and they'll be sharing some comments and we
also have some other individuals that are going to be
speaking on behalf of their organization and causes
At the end of our comment segment we'll have a
Q and A session for the press
The reason we're here today at the legislative building is
casinos video lottery terminals and lots of cash from out
of state gambling companies that are flooding the bank accounts
of a large number of the legislators here in Raleigh
This year we have already seen the approval of mobile
sports betting which marked the largest gambling expansion in a
recent in recent history
Citizens have a number of issues with what's going on
first even though taking some people call it bribes it's
legal to take these donations
But it doesn't it doesn't paint the representatives in a
good light
There's an issue of lack of transparency from our Senate
and House Representatives not allowing input from residents in the
county is mark for casinos to be built by court
group
It appears the idea of adding four massive casinos as
well as injecting tens of thousands of video slot machines
in North Carolina neighborhoods should be authorized through the legislation
process
Not a budget process
I personally object to the hasty ill considered proposals for
the expansion of commercial gaming in our communities
Furthermore the fact that these negotiations are currently being considered
behind closed doors is disheartening
The true cost of this policy will be paid by
the most vulnerable among us
Beyond the human impact the social cost of gambling from
increased crime and the burdens on the health care system
to increase welfare and other entitlement costs as described in
numerous studies over the years could easily outweigh the savings
to the taxpayers
I firmly urge decision makers to avoid rushing into any
further gambling expansion without careful consideration
We must thoroughly understand the implication of mobile sports betting
before contemplating another substantial expansion
We are community leaders we're citizens and we are asking
that you the elected officials here at the legislative building
do not include casinos and video lottery terminals in this
year's budget
At the very least
We request that no legislation be passed until the public
has had sufficient opportunity to voice their opinions and weigh
in on the potential consequences of gambling with our state's
future
I want to thank everyone that came out from the
different counties
A lot of folks are working today
A lot of people are just coming off a vacation
So it's nice to have a great crowd and I
appreciate the media and the great turnout
It's very very appreciative
Now I'd like to introduce to you the president of
the North Carolina Family Policy Council who will be speaking
Mister John Rustin
I do
Thank you dog
Thank you all for being here
Everybody that came from across the state and members of
the media
Thank you for your attention and for being here as
well
I am John Rustin president of the North Carolina Family
Policy Council
We are a faith based research education and advocacy organization
and I appreciate the opportunity to share with you today
NC family has been researching the effects of gambling and
gambling addiction on individuals families and communities for over 30
years
Decades of research clearly demonstrates that the more prevalent gambling
is and the more forms of gambling that are legalized
and advertised the more citizens will gamble different forms of
gambling cater to different interests of different people
So the more forms of gambling that exist the more
citizenss will participate of those who do a significant percentage
will develop a problem or pathological gambling issue
Like many addictions problem and pathological gambling manifests itself in
a host of economic and social harms including increases in
theft embezzlement job loss personal bankruptcy substance abuse domestic violence
child abuse divorce and even suicide
This is the human cost of legalized gambling and gambling
addiction and this is why we care
Three months ago the North Carolina General Assembly authorized statewide
sports gambling making every computer tablet iphone and smartphone in
the state a potential gambling device
The legislation also legalized permut wagering on horse racing
Just two weeks ago the state lottery commission voted to
implement digital instance which is essentially online video gambling
And now our lawmakers are discussing legalizing up to four
commercial gambling casinos as well as video lottery terminals which
would add an estimated 30,000 additional video gambling machines across
our state
And speaking of casinos today's destination casinos are huge all
in one commercial developments not just gambling venues they include
hotels restaurants entertainment venues conference space retail space and the
like to keep customers locked in gambling for as long
as possible
In these casinos
There are typically no windows there are no clocks on
the walls to help gamblers lose track of time and
their money
If you look at the website for the Caesars casino
that's being built in Danville Virginia right now
It says the property plans include a 500 room hotel
a world class casino gaming floor with over 1300 slots
85 live table games 24 electronic table games a World
series of poker room and Caesar sports books
So they'll have sports gambling there as well
In addition the resort will include a full service spa
pool high quality bars and restaurants a 2500 seat state
of the art live entertainment theater and 40,000 square feet
of meeting and convention space
What do you think the impact of this is going
to have on existing hotels restaurants entertainment venues in these
areas or in Danville And if this legislation moves forward
in these communities in North Carolina research shows that casinos
cannibalize the local economy and compete directly against local restaurants
hotels retailers and other entertainment venues for customers and employees
They also siphon money away from local spending on consumer
goods and personal savings
It's very simple
Casinos make money when citizens lose money
Moreover casinos are often magnets for crime violence illegal gaming
operations prostitution and human trafficking
So why have our state lawmakers suddenly come down with
gambling fever The only reasonable explanation is the gambling industry's
promises of riches not for our citizens but for our
government and the gambling industry itself
A recent report by former democracy North Carolina director Bob
Hall identified 38 38 gambling related businesses and associations including
29 outside of North Carolina that are paying over 70
different lobbyists
I say that again over 70 different lobbyists in this
legislative building to push for casinos and video gambling machines
in North Carolina
And why again it's all about the money but at
what cost the lives and well being of tens of
thousands of North Carolina citizens their families and their communities
That's why these fine people are here standing up for
Rockingham County for Nash County for Anson County and all
points across North Carolina friends
We are better than this
North Carolina has once again been ranked as the best
state in the nation for business
We don't need to resort to gambling to balance the
state budget to pad the state's coffers or to fill
the pockets of the gambling industry
Thank you for your time and attention
Good morning
My name is Joie Robbins and I am a resident
of Nash County and I am not a politician but
I am here because this is not about politics
This is about people
This is about the next generation
Our kids today have enough bad things on their doorstep
Nash County I can speak for them and I know
these guys back here Rockingham County in an they do
not want any more bad things at their doorstep
So today we just implore everybody who's in this room
here behind me
I want you to know that we don't want it
and we are not very political but you know what
I'm a mama bear and I know there's some mama
bears out there watching right now and don't mess with
our kids if you mess with our kids we will
vote you out
So that's all I've got for you today
I just want you to know we don't want it
Good morning everyone
My name is Scott Man and I am a business
owner in Nash County
Unlike most of these people here today I didn't come
here just to say no casino
See me personally I don't have a problem with just
casinos
As a matter of fact if you did some research
on me you will quickly find out that not only
do I love Las Vegas but I chose to propose
to my wife there years ago by standing on a
balcony at the cosmopolitan overlooking the dancing water fountains of
the Blasio
I promise you it was pretty awesome
Instead I'm here today to challenge the wisdom of quickly
signing off on the casino bill or more properly known
as rural tourism incentive program under this year's budget bill
I'm asking you to simply slow down and think things
through to make it a separate bill of its own
that you know exactly what you are signing off on
See in our community of Nash it is under the
belief that we are about to get not one but
25 star hotels with 500 rooms a 500,000 square foot
water park dozens of upscale dining lots of retail shopping
1000 residential living spaces thousands of new jobs with an
average income of $50,000 an auditorium that sits 2500 to
5000 people become a conference region and plus a casino
Why do I believe this It's because locally Coors companies
have shared their vision of our to our community with
what this would look like
And the fact that it has been the most popular
post shared on Facebook by many of our community state
and city leaders to the tune of 121 times as
of last night
I will be honest
It sounds absolutely amazing who would not want this to
go to their area if you're looking for growth
The problem for me is when you start to look
at what co companies currently has in their entertainment districts
versus the casinos
Currently they look to have completed nine entertainment districts with
two more in the worst and five casino and hotel
stand alone
Ironically no the casino and hotel stand alone are at
the same location as their entertainment districts
The only two questions the two they are currently working
on one called The Pump which has already agreed to
Harrah's Beach Casino and will be Harrah's brand
The other is Norfolk which after two years they have
not even started development and does not have a casino
license
Furthermore when you look at the entertainment districts in which
all reside apart from Norfolk all are within 3 to
15 minutes of a major sports teams the ones within
three minutes include the Philadelphia Phillies the 76ers the Eagles
the Flyers the Wings the Baltimore Orioles the Ravens the
ST Louis Cardinals Kansas City Royals Atlanta Braves and the
Dallas Cowboys
Those within 15 minutes are the Kansas City chiefs ST
Louis Blues Miami Dolphins Atlanta Falcons Atlanta Hawks and the
Kentucky Derby
The other thing I find odd is that it appears
that co seems position and ready for the sports online
betting near the entertainment districts this year alone Missouri Georgia
Texas Kentucky and North Carolina all voted whether or not
to pass online sports betting only Kentucky and North Carolina
voted
Yes of course
You may be saying right now North Carolina doesn't have
a quarter company entertainment district and I would agree but
they currently have their staple PV R cowboy bar in
sports and social
Currently situated within three miles of the Carolina Hurricanes at
F and Carry and Fin and Carry looks as close
to any live entertainment district that I have seen
I truly hope that if they are coming to all
the communities they are bringing all they are promising mainly
the 1750 jobs at 50,000 average salaries
If they do that one thing it will be worth
it
Having said that by the draft bill long it will
not guarantee to come as for someone to be counted
as an employee they only have to work 30 weeks
at 35 hours as an industry such as casinos and
hotels have a 70 to 80% turnover
That means they can employ roughly 5 to 600 people
And with the sheer turnover alone qualify for the 17
50 even if they don't have to pay the fee
and who would blame them after all it's cheaper to
pay $2.5 million fee than 50 million in salaries
I probably sign up for that too
I went in with this
The words entertainment district is not in the draft field
The average salary of 50,000 is not in the draft
field
The words water park five star hotel conference location auditorium
retail shopping fine dining residential living spaces are all nowhere
to be found
The only thing remotely close to any of this is
that the land the land itself has to be eligible
for gaming and non gaming development that the developers have
10 years experience in the gaming industry while also having
10 years of misuse and non gaming development
Ready
Everybody
Right
Good morning
I too
Am just a resident of Rockingham County like Joni is
a resident of Nash County
I've been living there for 29 years
My name is Elizabeth Corona and I chose to live
in Rockingham County because of its rural qualities
The atmosphere is family
It's God first country first and we all watch out
for each other
I'm also a realtor and I know that once if
this casino is approved our property values will go down
and future growth will be businesses that go along with
the casino lifestyle not the many homes that are planned
or good industry that brings good jobs
People looking to move to our area from out of
state we will avoid the areas around casinos or choose
another state altogether
Many casino jobs are highly specialized and so those positions
will be filled by people from out of state because
we don't have experienced people in our state and that
does not help local people at all
On the other hand our small businesses in Rockingham County
and probably in Nash Counties as well are already struggling
to find good workers and to keep their business is
open with enough help
And so if the casino comes to our areas it
will steal it will rob employees from our local businesses
and thus they will go under that will lower our
state and county income from lower tax income
Casinos also attract a lot of crime
We don't want more drunk drivers on our roads
We don't want prostitution in our neighborhoods
We don't want our Children to be victims of human
trafficking
We don't want people who are desperate for money breaking
into our homes
We don't want illegal drugs and their deadly effects
We don't want our neighbors to become addicted to gambling
and have it destroy their families
Studies show that 90% of the casino's clientele live within
30 miles of the casino 86.5% of them lose their
money
That is money that should have bought groceries for their
families clothes for their Children paid their car payment rent
or mortgage payments
Everyone does have a choice
But do you want to set people up for a
disaster or have a part in making our state a
better place to live We the people should have a
say in this but we have not
Our counties have made changes in the zoning rules and
have rezoned property to open the door for these casinos
in our state with complete disregard for what we the
people want
Rockingham County Planning Board voted 5 to 2 to not
approve this rezoning but the commissioner still voted to rezone
it
Five to nothing
Many legislative pockets have been lined with campaign contributions from
gambling organizations over the past two years all in an
effort to convince our legislators and senators to vote this
in so they can get richer not really to help
us at all but so they can get richer
Our state currently has a 3 billion with a B
dollar surplus
I would rather continue to pay state income taxes than
to have casinos come to our area
This issue needs to be voted on as a stand
alone issue and not tacked on to the budget bill
with no opportunity for changes
Our legislators and senators were elected by we the people
to present the will of the people and we the
people say no to casinos in our state that will
destroy our communities and our neighbors lives
Thank you
Decision was deadlocked at the county
Good morning
For the past several years we were told that parents
should have more say in decisions
But with a decision of this magnitude parents are not
allowed to vote especially when the facility is next door
to camp care free for kids
Any time you have an influx of money you have
an influx of crime
When the government decide what's best for the people and
not the people themselves
That's socialism
And I've always heard that Republicans were against socialism
We heard the financial benefits to the county but isn't
that the same sales pitch We heard with the educational
lottery our schools are in poor condition structurally because our
politicians have played the shell game with us
For example they add $500,000 from the lottery and cut
$400,000 from the budget
That's why administrators are scrambling scrambling for teachers and repairers
Where is the educational lottery money when we have schools
so infected with mods that the kids cannot attend and
of all the property in the county why this parcel
of land parents and people of this county should decide
what's best not lobbyists pad in a few pockets
This is another example of the government stripping away of
our personal rights
We have the education lottery mega lottery scratch off online
betting
How much gambling is enough
Sadly they are plagued by people who can't afford it
Trying to get lucky when the odds are stacked against
them growing up
I was told that this is the Bible belt we
live in
Let's not put down our Bibles for a slot machine
Let the people vote now the time
Thank you Mr Allen
I'm Brandon Libri
I live in Rockingham County live right beside camp carefree
with my wife and our four Children
Our youngest who have special needs camp care free
It's a special place in my heart for that reason
And we love to hear the Children laugh and have
fun during the summer
We have a small little good farm as well as
an attorney out of Greensboro before sharing an update on
some things that at least Rock County citizens will be
doing
I want to share just a little personal comment
I wanted to read actually a letter that my niece
my nine year old niece wrote to the legislators and
the county commissioners
Her name is Rosie said my name is Rosie
I'm nine years old
Me and my very good friend have a watermelon stand
called the Goody Shack
We have it where both of our dads work
Our stand is on highway 220
Very close to where the casino might be built
The casino would bring a lot of crime and traffic
to where we live and have our business the residents
and citizens are interested in growth but we're interested in
good growth
That is growth
That's good for families good for communities and good for
businesses
Our community is upset
It has already been shared
The Rockingham County commissioners for example have already approved the
rezoning of land that is expected to be used for
the casino site
This has come out
We've talked to people and there are people who have
moved from other states to live in our area
And one lady for example she shared I've lived in
an entertainment district before and they're not entertaining
People are escaping those things from other states
Illinois Pennsylvania other states in our country to come to
North Carolina
And this is something casinos and bitter lottery terminals are
not something that we want some announcements with regard to
the next steps that Rockingham County citizens will be taking
regarding the rezoning of land affected landowners will be challenging
the decision in court that was made by the board
of commissioners affected landowners have already retained Brian Golden with
the Van law firm from those established over 100 years
ago
Out of Asheville there are a number of process and
substantive concerns
We have about the decision where the county commissioners did
not even follow some of their own rules
Furthermore we have serious concerns about the site chosen right
beside Camp Carefree
A camp that's been in existence since 1986 serving special
needs of disabled Children
Other thing that Rockingham citizens have done we've set up
set up a 51351 c four taxes and organization citizens
for good growth in Rockingham County
One that organization will be used to fund the legal
challenge in court and will also be used to promote
good healthy economic development policies in our county and in
our area the organization is now starting to raise funds
and I'm happy to announce that we've had an anonymous
My mind gives an idea of the outrage in our
community
A retired educator has donated $10,000 already to kick start
our campaign
And we've already heard word of other larger donations that
we expect to have to fund the litigation and to
use for educating our community
Our final plea is that this is about people not
politics
It's about our communities not contributions
We really want our legislature to hear us
And for all the other reasons that have stated before
us we would ask that it not be considered in
the budget bill this year by legislators
With that we would like to open up a short
question answer
And then we do have there have been two men
in particular Sheriff Sam Page and former congressman Mark Walker
that would like to share some comments after a short
question answer for any of those who have already spoken
um
on any numbers
Well I think certainly we want them to listen to
us and that's why we're here
I would hope we would all hope that they would
humble themselves and they would listen to the voices and
we certainly have been reaching out to others
We know that there are supporters from other districts and
other areas and certainly there will be an opportunity if
they don't want to listen to us there will be
opportunities for us to respond during the election cycle
A little bit about
certainly
So the site is a little over 192 acres off
of us highway 220 in Southwest Rockingham County about five
minutes from Gilford County
And it is adjacent to camp care free which is
a special needs
Disabled camp offers summer camps for Children off season
There are churches there are small businesses and others that
use that camp and then bordering to the north of
the camp is residential community planned residential community
Admittedly on one side on a very small fraction of
the land there are some highway business distant highway businesses
But for the most part almost all the surround parcels
are residential or residential agriculture
I think that's something that we are very upset about
The fact that that particular site has been chosen is
likely to be the site because it's something that that
area of the county
It's not even an incorporated area
It's an unincorporated area for which we do not we're
not used to having that type of growth
And again most people been mentioned most people have moved
to that area to escape the big city
I myself we moved five years ago from Greensboro to
get away from some of the large city
What about the idea that you can have
article I mean I don't know if anyone else hasn't
come
So I think I think the reality is I don't
know that just because someone makes a bad decision our
state should do the same thing
That would be my response
And I think maybe others would share that same sentiment
date
I'm not sure it's good policy
In other words if we see another state making a
bad decision a bad policy decision where all that's being
considered is the revenue and not the cost of obtaining
that revenue
I think that's the issue
No other questions
We really appreciate your time and I want to turn
it over first to Sheriff Sam Page who again has
been helping us get our voices heard and currently serves
as Sheriff of Rockingham County
You
good morning everybody
I'm Sheriff Sam Page from Rockingham County and I'm speaking
as the sheriff of Rockingham County
Uh listen what I say when I say this I
love Mayberry and there's nothing wrong with living in a
Mayberry thought process
But if I had my choice I'd rather live in
Maybury than I would
Las Vegas
You you've heard several people here today Talk about the
problems that casinos and gaming brings to the communities
They named them
You've listened to the crime issues
We see them in law enforcement and public safety
I'd first like to thank everybody behind me for coming
out and making a long trip to Raleigh to speak
with our representatives in our legislature regarding our opposition to
legalizing of casinos and video lottery terminals in the current
state budget discussion
As you know my name is Sam Page Sheriff of
Rockingham County historically speaking the sheriffs of North Carolina our
police agencies and our North Carolina alcohol law enforcement officers
have worked for 22 years to enforce against illegal gaming
machines in our state
However we've been sued and jun investigated crimes that these
type of illegal gaming operations have created in our communities
We've seen the impact of video gaming in our communities
and the impact on the families
A little over a month ago I was contacted by
Senator Berger and House Member Reese Purtle regarding video lottery
terminals
I listened to what they had to say following that
conversation more information came out about has come out about
casinos being supported by the Senate and being considered as
a budget revenue source in the House
There have been very little transparency there has been very
little transparency in these discussions with our citizens regarding the
state budget revenue consideration and it's not right
I was quite surprised that our conservative Republicans in the
legislature would even consider casinos and video lottery terminals as
a possible revenue source
My thought was what's next legalization of recreational marijuana That's
a revenue source
And that's also another very slippery slope
Any gambling businesses without question are based upon a predatory
business model
And remember casinos and video gaming machines are all about
making money for the business not for the consumer who
may just be developing in a gambling addiction that will
not only affect the person but their family and the
community
Our communities are already battling mental health issues in our
state
We have lack of inpatient beds for people that need
treatment
Our hospitals are packed up emergency rooms
We have fentaNYL poisoning and we have overdose deaths every
day in the state
12 people die every day due to overdoses
70% of those are due to fentaNYL
Let's not add additional problems with gambling addiction to public
safety and public health
Public safety is the first responsibility of our government and
as the sheriff of my county I don't take that
responsibility very lightly
We've had local meetings with our citizens and our local
board of commissioners to address the issues and to ask
the state to consider a local referendum in the legislature
to allow for the people of our county to make
a decision to vote whether or not to approve casinos
to operate in our county
That makes me think of we the people when I
think of we the people in our constitution that lets
me know who I work for
I work for the people
Our elected officials work for the people
And we should never forget that the board of Commissioners
in Nash County supported a resolution for a local recently
regarding casinos
I've spoken to sheriffs recently across the great state of
North Carolina and made them aware of our efforts to
oppose legalizing casinos in three locations and possibly four in
North Carolina and legalizing video lottery terminals
I've personally spoken to members of the legislature recently and
expressed my concerns and offered a proposal for a local
referendum
I haven't heard anything else today
I'm asking to the legislature listen to what I'm saying
to the members of the legislature today
I'm asking that the North Carolina support a local referendum
in the affected North Carolina counties regarding casinos
Our representatives have the chance today to stand up and
show that they represent their citizens in their respective counties
by allowing our citizens to have a voice in the
destiny and values in their communities where they live
If our representatives here today in the house cannot support
a local referendum in North Carolina regarding casinos then I
would ask that the house members caucus today to vote
no to casinos legalization of the Cherokee and Catawba Indian
reservations today
The North Carolina House can can show our citizens across
the Great state of North Carolina that they have their
ear not outside special interest groups and lobbyists
Thank you
Thank you Sheriff
Thank you Brendan Libri
For the great work that we're not officially associated with
this group
We've enjoyed working with him since day one
You say why would I be here Why would I
be speaking I had the privilege of representing Rockingham County
for six years three terms in Congress
And I actually live closer to the proposed site less
than five miles than most of the county commissioners there
in Rockingham County
The third reason I guess is because as these folks
were looking for somebody to reach out to many of
the elected officials including the lieutenant governor simply did not
respond to their requests
So we were glad to pick up the fight with
these guys
There's two arguments to be made here
One is from a moral or faith perspective
I applaud the work of John Russin and Tom Cali
Certainly Pastor Mark Creach and his organization because there is
a moral or faith argument to be made as far
as how we want to raise our families
And what we believe is the best moral path for
all North Carolinians
If you look at it from a moral perspective you
can understand that according to the National Association of Addiction
Professionals problem gambling has the highest suicide rate of all
addictions
I want to make sure you hear that problem
Problem gambling has the highest suicide rate of all addictions
And unlike other addictions such as alcohol or other drug
issues that are supported by the federal government with billions
of dollars of research and treatment problem gambling has none
And if you look at even the most conservative statistics
we're talking about 4 million plus people who have had
problems with not just the sports betting on the day
to day weekend or out on the golf match
If you will on the golf course this is heavy
duty problem gambling
You can look up the statistics on addiction dot com
if you would like to do so yourself
That's one argument
The second argument I'm going to be brief
Here is the argument to be made from the lack
of transparency
This is outside the bounds
Republicans used to be against cronyism to be able to
pursue legislation that targeted different groups or different industries or
in this case three maybe four rural counties usually in
our background in this republic people have had a chance
to vote they've had a referendum their voices were allowed
to be heard but not in this case the way
this has been rolled out from day one is more
than just problematic
It's wrong and I'm happy to hear to stand with
today with people from these different counties to say we
deserve a voice no matter your position on gambling whether
it should be legalized or not
The very basis of the state representative specifically led by
pro TEM majority leader Senator Spielberger should allow these residents
in these counties to be able to have a say
So why is because when you're coming in with that
kind of force and that kind of industry that will
literally change the entire culture of that community many people
have moved there because of that specific culture you've heard
today to bring in that level of industry without without
without any regard to what these people believe what they
should have to say and specifically how they should vote
I believe is wrong
And again that's why I am here today
I appreciate the group here being led by Brendan Libri
and so many others
I applaud their efforts and we will look forward to
continuing to stand with them in the future
Thank you very much
Does anybody have any questions I got your allergy sorry
say that again
The well I mean there are several there's a state
statute there are local rules and we believe that the
procedure there are a number of defects and issues with
them
One thing that is unique about this appeal in June
there was a major change to the Unified Development Ordinance
by the county commissioners that we believe was at the
request of the development agency reporters companies that because what
it would do is bypass the special permit use process
for casino or certain electronic gaming and other things
So that will be challenged as well in addition to
the actual reasoning decision
So there are a number of procedural grounds
And then again we think based on the statutory criteria
if it's unreasonable to rezone they should have voted
No
And we think it certainly was unreasonable for them to
vote
Yeah
Anything else or no No there's not been an action
filed yet
There are a number of landowners have already retained the
attorney but we expect it to be filed soon
So did you did you want to say this to
me We did have we did have one more uh
Doctor Reverend Mark Creach who I think wants to share
a few comments before we conclude the few rebels
Let's stay here
Thank you very much
There's not a lot more that I can add that's
already been said
So I won't believe her this time with you but
I just want to point out something that I thought
was interesting that I was looking at last night with
regards to polling that has been provided to lawmakers about
the support of evangelicals for gambling
That polling came from differentiators data
Uh And the data provided by them says that support
from evangelicals on North Carolina's education lottery is as high
as 61%
Support for regulating and taxing video lottery games is as
high as 49%
But I would suggest that these figures are suspect when
compared to what the more well known polling organizations are
saying about evangelicals and their support for gambling life
We research survey in 2018 life
We research conducted a poll that found that 54% of
protestant patters in the United States believe that gambling is
sinful
The survey included pastures from various denominations including evangelical churches
Public religion research concluded a poll in 2017 that explored
the religious landscape in the United States
And it found that white evangelical Protestants were more likely
to believe that gambling is morally wrong compared to other
religious groups
Around 60% of white evangelical products that's held this few
Pew research center survey in a wider study on religious
beliefs and practices in America
The PEW research center conducted a survey in 2014 that
asked participants um what they believed about the matter hold
just a minute
I've lost my place
And um what they said was that the survey found
that about 58% of white evangelicals believe that gambling was
morally wrong
The National Association of Evangelicals notes on their website the
following the National Association of Evangelicals reaffirms its opposition to
gambling and lotteries including those run by the government
These are socially morally and economically destructive
They are rooted in covetousness and violate the biblical work
ethic
They've been holding that view firmly since 1985
So my point is differentiation data is from a lesser
known organization and its data on gambling is not well
documented
Moreover it's critically important for Republicans to recognize the way
that this issue splits Republicans not only the Republican caucus
please remember when the State GOP convention was held in
June of 2021 at Harris Casino in Cherokee
Some Republicans set out the convention that year because of
their disdain for gambling as a representative of thousands of
evangelicals in North Carolina
I suggest that this kind of legislation will peel off
just enough Republicans to prevent the NCP from being able
to hold on to its super majority in both chambers
I think that ought to be a concern for them
Differentiation
Data is a much lesser known polling organization
Two of its major directors are former staff members of
Senator Phil Berger
Therefore I suggest that their data cannot be fully trusted
as a polling source on evangelicals and their attitudes toward
gambling as much as the larger national polling services that
were previously mentioned
There is strong opposition I suggest by evangelicals against gambling
and I can assure you they are very much opposed
to this legislation
Thank you so much
Yeah that's all we have any final questions
All right we'll let everyone get to some cooler temperatures
out of this heat
Thanks again so much
And I think feel free to come and try to
speak to anyone here
I think especially those who spoke but I think people
would be available to share additional comments