The N.C. Senate has voted overwhelmingly to ban video poker in the state … again.
The official vote was 42-0. Sen. Hugh Webster, R-Alamance, would have voted “no,” but he paired his vote with an absent colleague.
Voting to ban video poker has become a biennial tradition in the Senate. That vote is such an entrenched tradition that Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, used just a handful of sentences to explain his bill.
“It’s time for us to drive the final nail in the coffin for video poker and put it to rest,” Albertson said, after reminding colleagues that every sheriff in the state once signed a resolution supporting a ban.
In the past, the idea always has died in the N.C. House. Speaker Jim Black has rejected a ban, arguing that video poker generates several thousand jobs for the state. Black has instead supported bills that would lead to greater regulation of video poker.
The situation is different this year — only in that Black has faced intense media scrutiny because of state and federal investigations that involve the video poker industry.
Video poker interests have contributed heavily to Black’s campaign. He has not been charged with any criminal wrongdoing.
You’ll find more background information here.
