Some North Carolina residents may no longer be able to take their chances at winning the jackpot.
A new state policy is looking to ban welfare recipients and people who have filed bankruptcy from purchasing lottery tickets.
State officials believe that it is counterproductive for welfare lottery ticket holders to accept the winnings if they are struggling financially on a day-to-day basis.
“We’re giving them welfare to help them live, and yet by selling them a ticket, we’re taking away their money that is there to provide them the barest of necessities,” said state House Majority Leader Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam (R). Stam also suggests that many of the lottery advertisements are “just fraudulent” finding that the lottery system is a scam.
Some lottery critics believe that the program simply exploits the poor, uneducated and the elderly.
According to the North Carolina Policy Watch, the state’s poorest counties have the highest lottery ticket purchases per capita.
(Photo: AP)
