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North Carolina lawmakers are discussing a draft proposal that would prohibit sales of lottery聽tickets to people who receive public assistance or who are in bankruptcy.

The Insider reports聽that Rep. Paul "Skip" Stam, R-Wake, said the measure is among several targeting the N.C. Education聽Lottery聽that may come up during the legislative session.

"We're giving them聽welfare聽to help them live, and yet by selling them a ticket, we're taking away their money that is there to provide them the barest of necessities," Stam said.

Stam it would be difficult for store clerks to know which players get help. But Stam suggested that in obvious cases, such as when customers pay for groceries with food stamps, they shouldn't be allowed to buy聽lottery tickets at the same time.

Another proposal would remove the word "Education" from the N.C. Education聽Lottery聽for advertising purposes. Stam said the word "education" shouldn't be used to sell "something that is essentially a scam," especially because聽lottery聽proceeds account for a small percentage of state education funding.

"It's just inappropriate to take what is a very important function of state government ... and use that as a selling point, when obviously the more educated you are, the less likely you are to play the聽lottery," he said.

Stam said he believes many聽lottery聽ads are deceptive because they don't state the probabilities of winning particular prize amounts. The聽lottery聽advertises large cash payouts, he said, but the actual prizes are smaller after taxes and other deductions. The fact that the聽lottery聽doesn't give the actual values of prizes when advertising larger amounts is "just fraudulent," he said.

Alice Garland, executive director of the聽lottery, said last week that she believed taking "Education" out of the title would cut into聽lottery聽sales.

Lottery聽spokesman Van Denton said officials haven't fully reviewed all of the legislative proposals to gauge the impacts, but he did say the聽lottery聽tries to keep up with best practices in the industry, he said.

"We work hard to make sure players have the information they need to play the聽lottery聽... and to make good choices about how to spend their money," Denton said.

Although the odds of winning each different prize amount aren't listed on each ticket, they are available on the lottery聽website and in the聽lottery聽"play centers" at retail locations. The聽lottery聽also publishes on its website the number of prizes remaining at all prize levels in scratch-off games.