UP NEXT
North Carolina House Speaker Tim Moore will vote on legislation involving gambling in the state, a change from his previous position, after an opinion from ethics committee ruled he had no obligation to recuse himself based on past legal work for The Catawba Nation.
Moore, a Cleveland County Republican, has long recused himself on gambling matters, including last year’s contentious mobile sports wagering bill that failed by a single vote in the House. The Catawba Nation have a temporary casino in Kings Mountain with plans to construct a larger permanent facility there.
Moore said he did legal work for the tribe in its acquisition of land.
The NC Legislative Ethics Committee opinion was made public at Moore’s request.
The question before the committee was “must a lawyer-legislator include a former gaming client in that legislator’s ongoing conflict of interest analysis with respect to prospective official or legislative action when legal representation for that gaming client has concluded, there is a formal written agreement terminating the attorney-client relationship, and all fees have been settled between the lawyer-legislator and the former gaming client.”
The committee answered: No.
In August of 2022, Moore said he was not doing any work for the Catawba, was not still being paid by the tribe and held no ownership interest in the casino, but still felt he needed to recuse himself.
“I’m recused on any legislation because of work I did with developers in our town on real estate side of all that,” Moore said at that time. “Because of that I’m recused and I don’t handle any of it. So I don’t even have conversations with members about it. When this comes up in caucus, I leave.”
He continued: “It’s always better to be safe than sorry. It’s like anything else, sometimes it’s the appearance and I like to always err on the side of caution.”
Family members or associates of key South Carolina politicians reportedly hold shares in companies doing business with the Catawba casino and receive money from gaming.
Construction on the permanent facility is stalled due to an review by the National Indian Gaming Commission into whether or not the Catawba are deriving enough of the benefit from the casino.
“The Catawba Nation continues to work closely with the National Indian Gaming Commission on its review of our casino project and necessary agreements,” said Glen White, director of communications for Delaware North, which runs the gaming operations. “While we don’t have a timetable for construction, infrastructure work is continuing on two key projects needed for development of the permanent casino resort, both of which are being funded by the Catawba Nation: Doubling the size of the Dixon School Road Bridge over I-85 near the casino entrance and new sewer lines.”
As an attorney, Moore has worked with others who have interest before the legislature.
“Anytime I’ve done work for any developers, any kind of matters like that, if there’s legislation that’s come up that would have a significant impact or benefit on those, I recuse on those matters,” Moore said in August of 2022.
When the House passed a mobile sports wagering bill earlier this session, Moore recused himself. That bill is still awaiting action in the Senate.
Moore’s decision to recuse in June 2022 likely prevented the mobile sports wagering bill from passing the House. Rep. Destin Hall, who fills in for Moore when he recuses himself, also did not vote on the measure, which ended up failing by a single vote. Had Moore and Hall, who supported the bill this year, voted yes, it would have passed.
Mobile sports wagering is not the only gaming-related legislation before lawmakers. At least one bill to allow video gaming terminals, or video lottery terminals, has been filed, and other lawmakers are discussing potential legislation to authorize non-tribal casinos in certain parts of the state as Virginia has opened several along the North Carolina border.