By L.A. Williams
Christian Action League
August 19, 2022
Few people with their finger on the pulse of the Legislature this past session would have wagered against a bill legalizing online sports betting in North Carolina. Already approved by the Senate, “the bill could pass quickly in the House,” gambling publications predicted in mid-May, confidently proclaiming that “the votes to legalize mobile sports betting are there!”
But when SB 688 — a bill that would have, over time increased adverse outcomes such as divorce, bankruptcy, child abuse, domestic violence, drug addiction, crime and suicide — hit the House floor in late June, it was defeated by one vote in what the North Carolina Family Policy Council has called a “David and Goliath story.”
“It truly is a fantastic story of a mighty victory that only the Lord could provide,” says the Rev. Mark Creech, executive director of the Christian Action League.
In addition to teaming with the Family Policy Council to produce an op-ed piece against the bill that was published in three major daily newspapers, Creech addressed every committee in both the House and the Senate where the bill was taken up.
Senate Finance Committee
He told the Senate Finance Committee that like all gambling, sports wagering is parasitic, undermining the essentials of a stable economy: a strong work ethic and the production of tangible goods and services.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Freedom was the theme of his address to the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Is this only about the gambler’s liberty? If so, we should take into account that the gambling industry — the most predatory industry in the country — purposely targets and exploits the financially desperate and cultivates addiction for profits. Ask compulsive gamblers if they feel free,” he said.
Senate Commerce and Insurance
As the Senate Commerce and Insurance Committee considered the bill, they heard from Creech that the gambling bill had nothing to do with commerce. Commerce, simply defined, is “the exchange of goods and services, especially on a large scale,” he contended. “The irony is that sports wagering, like all forms of commercialized gambling, doesn’t involve a fair exchange, or value for value. There is only a redistribution of currency on an inequitable basis.”
Senate Rules Committee
In his final appeal to the Senate body to reject the proposal, Creech spoke before the Rules Committee, challenging members of both political parties to uphold their stated platforms. “It is you who championed social justice. Yet sports wagering, commercialized gambling, is a form of economic predation. It grinds the faces of the poor into the ground,” he told Democrats. Republicans, he said, should oppose the bill because of their belief in smaller government. “This will increase the size of state government and, for its own sustenance, fleece its citizens,” he asserted.
House Judiciary I Committee
In the House, Creech offered up equally strong arguments against the bill, each tailored to the respective committee. He appealed to the House Judiciary I Committee to protect college sports from predatory gambling, reminding them of past betting scandals that rocked the state.
“The integrity of the games, the players, the referees is seriously diminished when the game is no longer about who wins on the court, but who wins off the court,” Creech said.
House Finance Committee
He challenged the House Finance Committee to consider the high social costs that would be borne by all taxpayers, including those who never make a bet.
“People will be targeted, the financially desperate will be fleeced, and the addicted will be exploited for profit. This will lead to increases in rates of bankruptcy, new avenues of crime, money laundering, work-related costs, and even add to the financial burden of our health care system,” he said. “I suggest this committee should be able to explain how it will protect those of us who don’t gamble from the inevitable added financial burden of the social costs resulting from this bill.”
House Rules Committee
As SB 688 faced its last hurdle on the way to the House floor, Creech told the House Rules Committee that the fact that some people are already betting on sports in North Carolina is no reason to legalize the practice.
“There will never be unanimous social endorsement or adherence to prohibitive laws, but that doesn’t mean we need to do away with them. They are necessary for curbing harms and protecting public health and safety,” he said. “Whether we realize it or not, the law is a great teacher, and it encourages or discourages a behavior.”
In between addressing various committees, publishing articles detailing the egregious sports gambling measure and urging voters to contact their legislators, Creech, Rustin, and Jere Royall, also a lobbyist for the NC Family Policy Council, lobbied lawmakers individually, urging them to oppose the bill.
With God Nothing is Impossible
“We knew the vote could be close and everyone kept telling us that we were wasting our time and the proponents had the votes. It was a done deal, they said. But with God nothing is impossible!” Creech said.
Rustin said the victory is even more amazing considering the number of companies, organizations and individuals who were pushing the gambling bill: an estimated 25 entities and more than 50 lobbyists representing gambling companies, professional sports leagues and other gambling proponents.
Both he and Creech emphasized the fact that God can bring victory despite the odds when his servants show up, humbly pray and work together.
