With North Carolina close to approving its first state lottery after more than two decades of trying, a research center opposed to the measure has outlined the problems some 40 other states have had in instituting such programs.
The North Carolina Center for Public Policy Research, located in Raleigh, found that lottery revenues as a percentage of state budgets are declining.
The center also contends there are no guarantees that lottery proceeds will not supplant regular education aid, as research suggests has happened in California, Florida, and Michigan.
Proponents of the lottery measure, which was being weighed in the Senate last week, say a lottery could generate some $400 million annually. Much of the money would go to education programs.