During her campaign for governor, Beverly Perdue often said she wanted take extra steps to ensure profits from the North Carolina Education Lottery were spent solely on education.
She was worried lawmakers might tap the ready source of cash for something else. And less than two months in office, faced with a brutal economy that's sapping the state of revenue, both lottery critics and allies say she's become the prime example of her own fears.
Perdue said last week she would use $87.6 million in lottery profits to ensure there's money available in the state's day-to-day operating accounts to pay the bills through mid-April. Lawmakers who voted for the lottery law say they're frustrated by the decision, even though they know she made it to face the state's worst fiscal emergency in a generation.
"The commitment that I told the people was that this was an education lottery and it would never be used for (something else)", said Rep. Bruce Goforth, D-Buncombe. "I didn't know that we'd have the circumstance that we have now."
The lottery money was part of the $300 million Perdue shifted from four dedicated accounts to help close a $2.2 billion gap in the state budget caused by dwindling sales and income tax receipts. Her decision didn't surprise those who have long said requiring the lottery to benefit education was merely a statutory facade.
"This isn't so much an 'I told you so' moment as a 'no kidding,'" said John Hood, president of the conservative-leaning John Locke Foundation and a lottery opponent. "The lottery was truly sold as an un-tappable pot. You weren't supposed to use this money for another purpose."
The new governor defends the transfers as a precautionary move but said she couldn't guarantee the money would be returned "if things continue to go downward." Perdue argued the lottery money would still be used for its intended purpose, since more than half of the state's $21.4 budget is dedicated to public education.
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