On June 20, 2019, the D.C. Policy Center’s article, Implementing the NEAR Act to reduce violence in D.C., was cited by WAMU:
But passage was never a certainty. There’s a long history of attempts in D.C. to legalize gambling in one form or another, and they have largely been derailed by community opposition. To secure the needed votes, Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who chairs the Council’s finance committee, made a deal with wavering colleagues: the revenue from sports betting would be used to fund the Birth-to-Three For All D.C Act and the NEAR Act, ambitious and expensive new programs to improve early childhood education and tackle violence, respectively.
Related: Implementing the NEAR Act to reduce violence in D.C. | D.C. Policy Center