RALEIGH, NC -- If you can't beat 'em, tax 'em. Gov. Bev Perdue sent a message to state legislators on June 9, urging them to pass a law to tax sweepstakes videogames to the tune of $300 million a year. The funds are needed to support education, Perdue said at a press conference.
The state Legislature banned sweepstakes videogames two years ago, but this past March, the North Carolina Court of Appeals struck down that law, calling it unconstitutional. The issue appears headed for the state Supreme Court. | SEE STORY
Chase Brooks of Front Edge Marketing (Chapel Hill), leader of the Internet Based Sweepstakes Organization, endorsed the governor's new policy. Brooks said IBSO will work with the administration and legislature to craft sensible regulation.
For her part, Perdue made it clear she was holding her nose while accepting the inevitability of sweeps games, at least unless and until the Supreme Court reverses the Appeals Court ruling.
At her press conference, Perdue said: "I've got a record on it, and I don't like sweepstakes... [but] until we can outlaw them or somehow the courts allow them to be outlawed forever, we need to tax the heck out of them and regulate them hard."
