North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper should shut down the NC Education Lottery until the coronavirus pandemic is over, Four Oaks Mayor Linwood Parker said Sunday.
“I plan Monday to sent a letter to the Governor to outline my concerns about the state lottery. At this time, the travel industry, restaurants, theaters, entertainment venues have been closed, as they should have been. The one exemption is the lottery.”
“We find that some of the most vulnerable people in our state – the ones with the least resources to combat this pandemic – are using their resources to buy lottery tickets and play poker machines, machines that aren’t being cleaned and are without sanitation.”
“I don’t believe, when our church pews are empty so we don’t spread the virus, and our churches are faced with great needs, that we ought to continue to tax the most vulnerable people in or state with the lottery,” Parker told the Johnston County Report.
“I will send a letter to the Governor on Monday and will wait for his decision. Hopefully the Governor and the leaders of the Council of State will respond in a positive direction.”
If Governor Cooper does not suspend lottery ticket sales, Mayor Parker could take additional action. “If necessary, I will ask the Four Oaks Town Board to outlaw the lottery in the Town of Four Oaks until this ends.”
