Game on! Tennessee won't cap lottery winnings for poor

Poor people can rest a little easier in Tennessee tonight. Or at least poor people who play the state lottery.

A bill that would have capped lottery winnings at $600 for anyone receiving state or federal assistance, also called welfare, died in a subcommittee hearing on Wednesday morning, according to its author, state Assembly Rep. Stacey Campfield.

Campfield, a Republican from Knoxville, Tenn., told me in a telephone interview that he was disappointed that his bill died for a lack of a second vote to move it along, but that he may reintroduce it next year.

"I guess people don't mind some people getting subsidized by the lottery," he said.