Gambling in Macon County continued to paralyze the Alabama Senate last week and block consideration of other bills, including the state budget. Senators again heard random dialogue, including talk about comfortable shoes, expandable shirt collars and cots for the Senate chamber, during a filibuster conducted by gambling proponents.
For nearly two months, Senate Bill (SB) 191 has been the center of debate, calling for a constitutional amendment to be voted on by state citizens. The amendment would prevent electronic gambling machines in Macon County — namely the more than 3,300 owned by VictoryLand racetrack owner Milton McGregor — from ever being confiscated or declared illegal. It also would transfer regulatory authority from the local sheriff to the Macon County Racing Commission.
“There’s a possibility that gambling could kill the whole (legislative) session, and that would be a tragedy to the people of Alabama,” said Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, who is leading the fight against SB 191.
While Erwin led the original filibuster against the bill, he relinquished that role once he realized there were not enough votes to pass it. Calling for a vote on the bill more than three weeks ago, Erwin said the supporting side began its own filibuster. The filibuster has continued as a way to prevent an up-or-down vote from taking place until the 21 necessary votes for passage can be secured, he said.
“Gambling forces are so powerful on this floor (seventh floor of the Statehouse — where the Senate meets),” Erwin explained. “People … here bend to their wills. For the past three weeks, we knew they (gambling proponents) didn’t have the votes (to pass the legislation), and the people of Alabama are the losers.”
At press time, the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Myron Penn, D-Union Springs, was still negotiating with other senators to garner more votes. Not only is Penn looking for the 21 votes for passage but he would also take 18 votes calling for the bill to be laid aside for a time and brought back up later in the session.
But he doesn’t have the 18 votes either, Erwin noted.
Senate leadership has allowed the debate to continue despite the fact this bill has prevented other work from being done, he said. “The Senate leadership should have stood up and said, ‘Let’s have a vote,’ but they haven’t done this.”
“(Gambling supporters) are filibustering their own bill,” Erwin said. “It is a pride thing. They don’t want to admit they don’t have the votes.”
Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom, who serves as president of the Senate, said, “We have unlimited debate in the Senate, and I want to be fair to both sides.”
Noting the limited time remaining in the session, Folsom predicted one side would soon yield.
“I think the vote will come (April 29),” he said at press time.
But earlier during the nearly two hours of filibustering April 24, Sen. Larry Means, D-Attalla, wasn’t so sure. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Means — who said he “believes in what (Penn and other SB 191 supporters) are doing” — also threatened to kill bills sponsored by Erwin because of his opposition to SB 191. “It’s the principle, not fooling with another senator’s (local) legislation. … Payback can be heck.”
But Erwin believes SB 191 impacts more than just Macon County.
“It is my business because (the gambling operators) have to make people come from our county to their county (to gamble),” he said. “I have to expect retaliation and be willing to live with it.”
Editor’s Note — In the April 24 article “State Legislature stymies attempts to expand gambling,” the vote reported referred to the Budget Isolation Resolution (BIR) for House Bill 577. The BIR refers to the fact that a three-fifths approval is required to bring up any bill before the state budget has been approved.
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