A compromise gaming bill has been approved by the Alabama House and advances to the Senate where it will require a three-fifths majority vote before the law is put before the voters.
The House Version
In February, a comprehensive gaming package in the forms of HB 151 and HB 152 was sponsored by Representative Chris Blackshear and approved by the House. Alabama is one of only five states without a lottery but Blackshear’s bill would have changed that and brought with it casino gambling as well as sports betting.
It was an ambitious piece of legislature considering Alabama residents voted down a state lottery in 1999, which has dampened all attempts to bring gambling in any form to the Yellow Hammer State. However, the influx of online sports betting and the revenues that states derive from it has brought gambling to the mainstream.
Blackshear felt the time was right and his colleagues in the House agreed by voting 70-32 for HB 151, which would allow a constitutional amendment authorizing a state lottery, sports betting and casino gambling in Alabama. His other bill, HB 152, which would establish gambling enforcement agencies, set tax rates, and direct where the proceeds would go, was also approved, 67-31.
The Compromise Package
When Representative Blackshear’s bills landed in the Senate, the upper chamber essentially gutted the bill by eliminating sports betting and granting exclusive rights to casino gambling to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians through a compact with the state.
Blackshear was not pleased with the Senate’s radically altered version, stating, “They had it for three weeks, we worked on it for 15 months, and I think there are some details we can provide to them that may help them understand why we sent the package that we did to them.”
More Changes
A bipartisan committee was formed and the bill that was ultimately forged leaned towards the Senate’s version as it eliminated sports betting and allowed three full-service casinos (slots and table games) to the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. However, it also added seven slot-only (electronic games) casinos that are intended for racetrack locations in Green County, Jefferson County, Macon County, and Mobile County as well as bingo halls in Green County, Houston County, and Lowndes County.
The House approved the compromise gaming package, voting 72-29 on HB 151 and 70-29 on HB 152. Those numbers exceeded the three-fifths (63 votes) threshold needed in the House and will now advance to the Senate for ratification.
“We’re never going to have 100% what everybody wants,” said Representative Chip Brown, a Republican from Mobile County. “This is about as good a bill as we’re ever going to get. I think it’s time. 1999 was way too long.”
Keeping the Money in the State
The topic of Alabamans crossing state lines to gamble had also been raised, noting that the money was going to neighboring state’s tax coffers instead of keeping it inside Alabama.
Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, admitted she will buy lottery tickets in other states from time to time. “I get in the car and drive myself up to the Tennessee line, and I think about how many young people I’m helping in Tennessee when I could be helping them in Alabama,” Hall said.
Should the Senate approve the bill by a three-fifths or better vote, the issue would go before the voters in a statewide referendum on August 20th.
