Recapping the 2021 “Long” Legislative Session
The North Carolina General Assembly has been in session since January 27, 2021, making this the longest uninterrupted “long” legislative session in a decade. Earlier this week, both the State House and Senate passed an Adjournment Resolution calling on the General Assembly to adjourn the regular session on Friday, December 10 and to reconvene on […]
Sports Gambling Bill Passes House Committee
The NC House Commerce Committee passed SB 688–Sports Wagering this morning by a 12-4 vote. This bill has not seen action since it passed the State Senate by a 26-21 vote this past August. NC Family has continually spoken out in opposition to this bill, and President John L. Rustin addressed the House Commerce Committee this […]
U.S. House Passes Catawba Casino & Lumbee Recognition Bills
Last night—on the first day of National Native American Heritage Month—the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills that could set the stage for a massive expansion of tribal casino gambling in North Carolina. First, the House voted 361-55 to approve H.R. 1619—Catawba Indian Nation Lands Act, which would codify in federal statute the authority […]
AT ISSUE: Second-Class Citizens?
The First Amendment of our Constitution grants every American the right to live out his or her faith without fear of governmental interference. Yet, lately this has not been the case. In the Winter 2021 edition of Family North Carolina magazine, we included a quote from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on our “etcetera” […]
Teetering on the Edge: Gambling in NC
The baseball legend (and great philosopher) Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra once said: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” Twenty-five years ago, Congress established the National Gambling Impact Study Commission (NGISC) in an effort to determine where the United States was going on the road of legalized gambling, and where […]
PERSPECTIVE: A Stream of Life in a Time of Drought
Every day it seems like the world is spinning further out of control. COVID-19 infection rates are spiking again around the globe. The Taliban has wrested control of Afghanistan after an announced American troop withdrawal, and many of that nation’s citizens are fleeing for their lives. Catastrophe has hit the island nation of Haiti once […]
On the Edge of a Gambling Boom
Our state and nation are on the precipice of the biggest gambling expansion in history. NC Family has been sending out numerous alerts in recent weeks and months about multiple bills in the state legislature that would expand various gambling practices in North Carolina. One of the most dangerous of these is SB 688, which […]
Gambling Fever Hits NC General Assembly!
Just days after the North Carolina Senate passed a bill that would allow sports gambling in North Carolina, a State House Committee approved another bill that would blanket the state with tens of thousands of video gambling devices under the authority of the state-run lottery. House Bill 954—Video Lottery Entertainment, sponsored by Reps. Harry Warren […]
NC Senate Officially Passes Sports Gambling Bill
After passing on second reading yesterday afternoon, SB 688 passed the NC Senate on third reading this morning, by a 26-19 vote. This legislation that would legalize sports gambling across North Carolina now moves to the State House. Today’s vote was as follows: NC Family will keep you informed as SB 688 is considered in […]
Sports Gambling Bill Passes 2nd Reading in NC Senate
The North Carolina Senate passed SB 688–Sports Wagering on its second reading this afternoon by a 26-21 vote. The vote largely divided Republicans in particular, with 16 out of the 27 present and voting GOP senators opposing the bill. The Senate will likely pass the bill on its third reading tomorrow, before sending it to the State […]