So who’s holding everything up to make gambling legal in NC??

With Lucky Land Slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to... has anyone seen the bride and groom?

Sorry, sorry, we're here. We were getting lucky in the limo and we lost track of time. No, Lucky Land Casino, with cash prizes that add up quicker than a guest registry.

In that case, I pronounce you lucky. Play for free at luckylandslots.com. Daily bonuses are waiting. No purchase necessary.

Boyd where prohibited by law. 18 plus. Terms and conditions apply.

See website for details. All right, I teased, I threatened actually, a little bit of a government conversation. And this is not about government, although I guess it is, as much as it's about denying you, the sports fan, the citizen, your right to lose money, gambling. Brian Murphy, WRAL sports investigative reporter joins us. And while this isn't sports necessarily, it is entertainment for sure.

And I know you have been, I saw your picture, I read your story. You have been following the casino part of the state budget and how it pertains to everything. Where are we with casinos off of Native American land reservations? Where are we with that?

What's holding us up? Yeah, right now that's the big hold up in the budget. The state budget's basically agreed to, except for this one proposal that would allow for additional casinos in the state, as well as statewide video lottery terminals and bars and restaurants, convenience stores, gas stations.

I think it's important to note, because this, several people have asked me this, this has nothing to do with the online sports gambling. Right. So that will go into effect next year, sometime between January and June.

That is not impacted by this at all. So that's a done deal. This is a separate issue. And right now this casino issue is holding up the entire state budget.

Yeah. And there are places that are in neighboring states that have the ability to go off of, again, a Native American reservation and gamble, and they're kind of taking North Carolina money to do this. So you say there's a hold up in the state legislature in the budget. Who's the hold up? There is a super majority in both houses, both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly.

What's holding it up? Hey, Carolina Panthers fans, Chris Lee and Dennis Cox here. We're excited to offer you all the inside information on your team with the newest member of the Capitol Broadcasting Podcast Network, Panthers Playbook. Twice a week, we'll keep you updated on your Carolina Panthers. We're talking about locker room insight, exclusive interviews, and of course, in-depth looks at all of the Panthers wins. Touchdown, Carolina! Panthers Playbook.

Download and subscribe today at WRLSportsFan.com or wherever you discover your favorite podcasts. Yeah, well, you know, not to get too into the weeds here, but the Senate says they can pass the budget with this gambling proposal in it. The House says even though the majority of Republicans support it, they don't have enough votes to pass the budget with gambling in it.

So, you know, they say it's a math problem. They have 42 Republicans in favor of this, but they don't have the additional 19 votes that they would need to pass the state budget. And then you might need even more if the governor were to veto the bill. So they say it's a simple math problem and they don't have enough votes to get this passed. There's obviously a lot of other things in this bill because my hope would be that Democrats would also support North Carolina citizens' right to do with their money what they want, but obviously we're dealing with politics here.

That's nasty, Brian. Yeah, I mean, this budget includes all kinds of stuff, you know, things that Democrats like, like Medicaid expansion, which would go into effect if this passed, but other stuff that they really hate, you know, a massive expansion of the school voucher program, you know, tax cuts. So they're, you know, one of the reasons that they put stuff in these big bills like this is to give everybody cover to vote for stuff they don't really like because they can just say, hey, I voted for the stuff that I really do like in this bill.

That's why you see these massive bills, not only at the state level, but at the congressional level, because it gives everybody a little bit of a victory so they can go to their constituents and say, look what I got without talking about all the stuff that they don't like. Government's awesome, isn't it, Brian? Yeah, yeah.

This, you know, it's a great civics lesson every time I'm down there. Holy cow. Well, it's terrible.

All right, I'll let you go. Brian Murphy, WRAL sports investigative reporter. Real quick, any idea if we're going to be earlier in the window for online sports wagering or later in the window? They are making a lot of hires over there.

That's what I can tell you. They've already put out some applications. They're not accepting applications yet from the sports gambling operators, but everything I've heard says that we should be a little sooner in that window. I don't think January 8th, but I do think probably closer to January 8th than the June 14th.

Oh, would be nice to get it before the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament so people could have fun with that. Before the Super Bowl. Yeah, well, that's very close to the January 8th. We're only a month short of that.

The Super Bowl is in early February. I appreciate your time, sir. All right. Thanks, Adam. Details.