By Chris Fitzsimons

N.C. Policy Watch

The Board of Elections hearings in Raleigh this week continue to paint a disturbing picture of the campaign practices of the video poker industry. A former convenience store clerk testified that the storeowner gave her $2,500 and told her to write checks for that amount to the campaign of House Speaker Jim Black.

It is illegal to give a political contribution on behalf of someone else. The storeowner testified that the clerk was not telling the truth, that she had not asked her to write checks to Black's campaign.

A used car salesman testified that he had never given money to Black's campaign, even though records show he had contributed $1,000. A woman living on a disability income of just over $1,000 a month said she contributed $1,000 to Black on her own, not with money given to her by anyone else.

That's the way the testimony has gone and while there is no evidence that Black was involved in these specific shenanigans, it is clear that campaign finance laws were broken and witnesses are not telling the truth.

The hearings are the latest evidence that the campaign finance system in the state needs reform and combined with last month hearings, ought to persuade state lawmakers to tighten the rules about contributions and checks and political committees.

The hearings shifted Wednesday afternoon to testimony from chiropractors who contributed to former Rep. Steve Wood, a Republican who supported Black for Speaker in 1999. Reportedly Wood was considering supporting Black again in 2003, but did not vote for Black or Co-Speaker Richard Morgan. Wood himself also took the stand late in the afternoon.

The hearings are focusing only on political contributions. That's the Board of Elections job. But the hearings also ought to help renew the call to ban video poker in North Carolina.

The Senate has voted to ban the machines in past sessions, but the House has refused to go along, primarily because of Black's opposition.

Current law forbids cash payouts from the machines. It only allows players to win up to $10 in merchandise or food.

The North Carolina Sheriff's Association wants video poker outlawed and cites compelling stories about undercover investigations that reveal case after case of cash payouts, compulsive gamblers, and families forced into bankruptcy.

The same clerk who testified this week that she wrote checks for $2,500 to Black also testified that she often made cash payouts to video poker players, often for more than $1,000.

That's illegal of course, but not much of a surprise. Video poker machines bring in thousands of dollars a month. Hard to believe that players spend that kind of money trying to win ten dollars worth of potato chips.

Black maintains that video poker operators generally obey the law and that the industry provides more than 3,000 jobs in North Carolina. Sheriffs around the state report just the opposite, that state regulations haven't stopped the illegal cash payouts. Not to mention the payout to politicians.

The hearings this week show the Sheriffs are right and that video poker is a sleazy industry. We need to reform the campaign finance laws, but lawmakers would perform a public service by also revisiting the video poker ban when the General Assembly meets this summer.