The Alabama Senator drafting a lottery and gambling bill said he agreed Tuesday (April 1) to change how potential state revenue would be spent in an effort to garner more support from his colleagues.
“A compromise was arrived at in regards to the distribution of funds,” Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Range, told Alabama Daily News after private meetings Tuesday.
Alabama Daily News reported earlier this week that Albritton is looking for support for his bill allowing for a September special election on legalizing lottery ticket sales, as well as Class II electronic gambling at six existing racetracks around the state, among other things.
Needing the votes
Albritton needs 21 yes votes from the currently 34-member body to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to the House and then Alabama voters.
Albritton has not yet filed the legislation but has shared details with ADN. He estimates total revenue of $750 million, about $250 million coming from a lottery and $500 million from other gambling operations.
An earlier draft would have put $100 million toward Alabama roads and bridges. Albritton previously said, and Inside Alabama Daily News reported, money for road infrastructure has become a big part of the gambling bill negotiations this year.
In the new draft, as of Tuesday afternoon, $150 million would be dedicated to roads, $75 million from each revenue stream. Counties would get a separate 4% earmark of the gambling revenue to use on road and bridge projects.
The older draft also said an unspecified amount of gambling revenue would be spent on “ the promotion of the stability of the state’s health care delivery system…” The language has been deleted.
There are 13 legislative days in which the Senate and House can vote on bills left in the last about six weeks of this session.
‘Moving target’
Asked about the ongoing discussions about the bill, Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said, “at this point, it’s a bit like trying to nail down Jello.”
“Sen. Albritton indicates that there’s nothing set in stone, and his bill remains a moving target,” Gudger told ADN. “At the same time he is working to gather votes for his legislation, the Senate remains focused on other important bills and measures that remain before us, including both state budgets that still need to move.”
A lottery and expanded gambling proposal requires two separate pieces of legislation: The constitutional amendment that would be put before voters and the “enabling legislation,” the nuts-and-bolts details.
Draft language, as of Tuesday, for the proposed amendment says the governor may negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. That compact could include Class III gambling — table games — at the PCI’s casinos on tribal lands, of which it has three, and its newly acquired Birmingham racetrack.
Albritton’s proposal would also:
- Allow for five Class II gambling sites in the state, outside of the PCI’s: at each of the racetracks in Macon, and Mobile counties and bingo halls in Greene, Macon and Houston counties;
- Allow for sports betting “whether in-person on the premises of the licensee’s gaming establishment or through an individually branded sports wagering platform website and through an associated mobile application bearing the same brand name;”
- Set a 24% tax rate on net revenue from games of chance and sports bets;
- Put a $2,500 privilege tax on every electronic game at establishments;
- Create a state lottery and the Alabama Lottery Corporation to oversee it.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Mary Sell and originally published by Alabama Daily News.
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