Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 18, 1994 TAG: 9407220093
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By H. ODELL ``FUZZY'' MINNIX
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
How much did Virginians have to pay for the whopping big $1.5 billion prize of which Wilkinson spoke? Well, let's let everyone know so they can see what a great deal we made. We paid $4.5 billion - that's Billion with a capital B. This is based on his figures, not mine, but he's absolutely correct. That's like saying to someone, ``Congratulations! You just won $1,000. Now all you have to do to collect it is give me $3,000.'' Perhaps Wilkinson thinks we just fell off a cabbage truck. If that really makes economic sense for the ``winners'' in his judgment, I'd hate to see his idea of a loser.
Win the lottery and you'll receive your prize in 20 annual payments. Of course, Virginia deducts its part first each year, before you receive any payment. Would Wilkinson care to tell us who collects the interest on the other 19 payments, which belong to the ``winner,'' until they're made? A lot of people would call this stealing, but I guess he would see it as just another good investment that provides more money for the state's general fund.
I'm glad to see that he'll be able to guarantee that all gambling money in Virginia will remain here. When the tracks, casinos and riverboats get started, I will not only remind him of this. I'll also ask him and the lottery to make up the difference when any of the money made in Virginia gambling is used to open similar enterprises or diversify into other industries in other states.
It's very difficult for me to take great pride in the knowledge that gambling is the third-largest source of income in our state, although he seems to be very proud of that fact. Of course, his livelihood depends on the lottery's success, so I can see why he feels he must pick up the glove. But I think he'll find that Virginia still has many residents (and please include me among them) who do not take pride in the fact that Virginia's economy rests on a bouncing ball, a roll of the dice, a flip of a card or the turn of a wheel.
Whether or not Wilkinson is willing to face it, the fact is that the lottery is nothing more than a well-disguised tax on the commonwealth's citizens, and it targets in general those who can least afford it. What makes it even more cruel is the false hope it gives to so many. The lottery is a tax that has ripped out of Virginia's economy more than $4.5 billion since 1988. And most citizens can't even deduct their gambling losses from their state income tax.
The last and probably most important fact is that we in Southwest Virginia don't need another bureaucrat from Richmond telling us how lucky we are, or what we do or don't need. We have more than enough of that already. When it comes to gambling, do I speak for everyone in Southwest Virginia, or even the Roanoke Valley? Of course not. I never said I did. But I'll give you two-to-one odds that I speak for a lot of them.
H. Odell ``Fuzzy'' Minnix of Roanoke is a member of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors.
by CNB