A package of bills relating to legal lotteries was approved by both Alabama’s legislative chambers on Tuesday, 30 April. This came after months of negotiations and two weeks of meetings of the conference committee. Four hours after the Alabama house passed a set of bills, it was rejected by the senate.
To reach the two-thirds requirement, 21 votes in the Senate were required. The chamber approved HB 151 with a vote of 20 to 15. This bill would have been a constitutional change that sent the legalisation of lottery up to the voters. The senate, with one vote less than it needed to reject lottery.
Alabama is among five states without a state lottery.
The package would have permitted a legal lottery in person, slots at seven different locations, raffles, and bingo on papers. The bills would also have required that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians sign a compact for Class III in-person gaming. Tribe currently runs three Class II casinos.
The bill on sports betting has been removed by the conference committee.
Senate rejects lotteries… but it lays them over
The enabling legislation, HB 152 was not voted on by the Senate. The senate agreed to delay HB 151 after rejecting lottery because it failed to reach the required two-thirds majorities. This decision does not seem to be in line with procedure. It could be that the Montgomery bills will re-appear before the 14 May session ends.
In the morning, both bills received at least 70 votes. Prior to the vote in the senate, which was held at around 11pm local, there were clear opposition.
A senator stated that he wouldn’t vote in favor of the bill, because “a lottery sells hope $3 per time”. The senator continued to state that, in the end, a lottery would not be beneficial for the state. He did admit: “I hate the illegal things that are going on.” “It is cancer.”
Some pointed out the younger generation and said that they should not be tempted to play a lotto.
Lottery Tickets are just one state away
Many senators emphasized that Alabama was surrounded by states with legal lotteries. Lottery tickets are easily accessible to those who live near the border in Florida, Georgia and Mississippi.
In February, the package of bills started its march. The proposal at the time was an expansion of gambling. The proposal would have allowed for the legalisation of lottery games, digital and retail sports betting and ten brick-and mortar casinos.
