Nevada declines to gamble on lottery

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) -- Nevada may be a gambling state but a state Senate panel decided on a 5-2 vote Thursday that a lottery is one game of chance the state can do without.

Sens. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, and Valerie Wiener, D- Las Vegas, cast the only "yes" votes as the proposed constitutional amendment for a lottery was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Proponents argued that the state's share of revenue from a lottery would help pay for textbooks, school supplies and smaller public-school classes.

The strongest opposition came from Sen. Maurice Washington, R- Sparks, who said Nevada should fund education from other sources. For now, he suggested lawmakers commit surplus state funds for schools, besides the usual education funding.

Horsford argued that lawmakers should let voters decide. The proposal would have had to pass this session and again in 2007 before going to a vote in 2008.

While Nevada's casino industry has opposed a lottery in the past, arguing that it would cut into other gambling-related revenues, nobody from the industry spoke for or against the latest proposal. The effort this session was the 23rd attempt since 1975 to authorize a lottery.

Nevada is one of nine states without a lottery. A poll conducted by the Reno Gazette-Journal in late January showed 76 percent of 600 likely Nevada voters support creation of a lottery.

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