Correct To Kill Lottery Limit Bill

By: | TriCities.com
Published: April 28, 2009

The bill was supposed to garner outrage, but died when it couldn’t muster a second in subcommittee last week.
Tennessee Rep. Stacey Campfield, a Knoxville Republican, sponsored HB0818, which would have limited lottery winners who receive government assistance to a maximum $600 prize. The measure failed in the House State Government Subcommittee for lack of a second.

Campfield’s reasoning for the bill is his belief that people who receive government assistance should not buy lottery tickets (and conversely shouldn’t reap large winnings).

Instead, he told The Associated Press, they should spend their money on “education or to put food in their children’s mouths.”

Easy argument. Clearly, everyone should focus first on buying the basics or saving for education. Taxpayers get angry over perceived freeloaders buying lottery tickets. But this bill is a stinker because Tennessee is a highly conservative state that mightily refuses efforts to tell its citizens what to do.

Lawmakers rally against open container bills, arguing that college football fans would be deprived of beer on the way to games. “Income tax” is a dirty concept. And plenty of citizens still want to debate laws requiring seat belts in cars and helmets while riding on motorcycles.

So Tennessee lawmakers were not going to rally around a bill dictating how to spend a few dollars, even for people receiving public assistance.

And despite the fact that the bill also would have prohibited inmates from redeeming winning lottery tickets, Campfield couldn’t get any help to keep the bill alive in subcommittee.

The outrage Campfield hoped for doesn’t exist.

Some of the perceived problems that might be addressed by the bill already have safeguards. Inmates are not out at convenience stores buying lottery tickets. Anything mailed to them can be scanned by authorities. Any income they earn, or win, can be garnished for victims of their crimes.

As for people on public assistance buying lottery tickets: Obviously taxpayers expect people receiving aid to be frugal with that money and to use it for the intended purpose. That’s why aid money can’t be used for alcohol or cigarettes – or lottery tickets for that matter.

That’s why aid programs are “paperless” in most states, including Virginia and Tennessee, where participants use a benefits card similar to a debit card, not a cash system.

And if they were to hit a large lottery prize, those winnings would be reported for tax purposes. It also would affect their eligibility for government aid.

Only one person posted a comment at TriCities.com expressing outrage: “If only I had the disposable income to gamble with,” lamented someone calling himself Malcolm.

The companion bill to Campfield’s has stalled in a similar Senate committee since February.

Thank goodness lawmakers in both houses understand the importance of protecting personal liberties and see through this bill.