By Peyton Majors
Christian Action League
September 15, 2023
Debate on a state budget will be delayed until at least next week as Republicans in the North Carolina House and Senate remain divided over casinos — and as Senate leader Phil Berger continues pressing both chambers for a gaming vote.
House Speaker Tim Moore said this week he does not have the votes to pass a budget that includes expansion of casinos in the state. Needing 61 votes in the 120-member House to pass a bill, Moore said only 42 Republicans support a budget with casinos, while 30 GOP members oppose it. There also are not enough Democrats, Moore said, to take the bill over the threshold even if he went ahead with a vote.
The casinos reportedly would be built in Anson, Nash and Rockingham Counties.
Berger, though, wants the House to vote.
“I think there are a lot of people that have a lot of things in that budget and that it’s very easy to say I don’t want it in there in either a one-on-one conversation or, particularly, in a group meeting of some sort,” Berger said, according to WRAL. “I think that the votes would be there if it were put on the floor.”
Moore, for his part, said the budget is “too important to get hung up on any one single issue — on gaming, casinos or anything else.
“All of the other pertinent issues from taxes to pay raises, to investment in capita, to you name it, community colleges, workforce development, all that stuff in that $33-billion budget was agreed to,” he said.
Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League, is encouraging opponents of casinos to stick to their positions.
“The Christian Action League and other family-oriented advocacy organizations in North Carolina find ourselves deeply troubled by the covert push to expand gambling in our state,” Creech said. “The lack of transparency and backroom dealing surrounding this proposal fuels concerns of corruption often associated with gambling. This unexpected move by the Republican leadership has left us both incensed and disillusioned. We are committed to fulfilling our duty in opposing this expansion, as it will fundamentally change the cultural landscape of North Carolina. We firmly believe in preserving the best of our state’s values and protecting the well-being of our communities.”
A vote for casinos by a supposed pro-family party, Creech added, won’t be forgotten.
“Although we have never been given to making political threats, I believe that I am completely in line with the sentiment of the hundreds of evangelical churches the Christian Action League represents, when I say, if the gambling goes through, we will not forget who voted for it,” Creech added. “As much as we would prefer to continue working with every Republican for a strong state, an expansion of gambling of this nature and size, cannot be overlooked and we cannot simply move on as though nothing has happened.”
