Gov. Robert Bentley confirmed July 27 that he will be bringing a statewide lottery proposal to the special session that will begin Aug. 15.
The goal of the session is to find funding for the $85 million Medicaid shortage and Bentley’s announcement comes as no surprise.
“Montgomery doesn’t have all the answers. Let’s hear from the people from this great state on whether the time has come to approve a statewide lottery,” he said.
In his announcement, Bentley promised to present “clean and simple legislation” that does not allow for any other form of gambling.
Any game of chance
The problem with Bentley’s promise, however, is the fact that under Alabama law a lottery is defined as any game of chance. And that, according to Birmingham lawyer Eric Johnston, can open the floodgates.
“If we pass a law (legalizing a state lottery), that means the Legislature can have any kind of gambling,” said Johnston, who also represents the Alabama Policy Institute and Alabama Citizen’s Action Program (ALCAP).
“The exact wording of the bills is very deceptive, very subtle,” he said. Blackjack, Roulette, any game of chance technically falls under Alabama’s legal definition of “lottery.”
“We need to understand exactly what we’re voting on. … It’s not just going to the convenience store and buying a ticket. It can be that and then going down the street to the casino,” Johnston said.
The Alabama Baptist reported in the July 28 issue that a state lottery is 1 of 4 possible solutions to the budget shortfall, and if Bentley’s proposal is approved in the special session then lawmakers will have to move fast, completing the session by Aug. 24, to get the measure on the November ballot.
Bentley has previously said he doesn’t believe a lottery is the best way to fund a state government. In a July 28 op-ed for the Montgomery Advertiser, he likens a lottery to an out-of-fashion leisure suit — it was very popular at one time, but now it has “lost its luster.”
Other options exhausted
Bentley believes all other options have been exhausted, however, making a lottery “the best leisure suit we’ve got.”
According to Bentley, a state lottery is expected to generate $225 million annually.
That total is an estimate based on the historical experience of lotteries in other states similar in size to Alabama, according to Yasamie August, Bentley’s press secretary and National Governor’s Association coordinator.
Three physician groups — the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, the Alabama Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians — came together in a statement to applaud the lottery proposal, but expressed concern that no solution was presented to address the short-term issue of the budget shortfall.
If citizens were to vote in favor of a state lottery in November, it could take a year or more to be implemented.
Joe Godfrey, executive director of ALCAP, believes if a lottery is voted in, casinos won’t be far behind.
“I think the ultimate goal is to get casinos. They’ll come back and say, ‘The lottery revenue is not coming in like we thought it would.’ … It’ll be a constant battle from now on,” he said.
“Our budget situation is bad but it’d be worse if we had a lottery.”
Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions Executive Director Rick Lance noted the moral implications of opening the state up to gambling.
“Historically, Alabama Baptists and Southern Baptists have opposed gambling on biblical, moral and ethical grounds. Gambling fosters greed and covetousness, as Proverbs 13:11 states,” he said in a blog post at ricklance.com.
“It harms the most disadvantaged people among us, disproportionately to the rest of the population. Gambling leads to bankruptcies, disruption of homes and dissolution of families,” he said.
Even some lottery proponents are against creating a state lottery to fund Medicaid. House of Representatives Minority Leader Craig Ford, D-Gadsden, said, “A lottery will do nothing for this year’s Medicaid shortfall, and at best will be nothing more than a Band-Aid for the General Fund.”
Lance and Godfrey encouraged Alabama Baptists to contact state legislators and urge them to stand against the lottery proposal.
Lance said, “In a day of rapidly changing culture Alabama Baptists must be among those … striving to make a positive difference in our day.”
To contact your representative or senator, visit capwiz.com/state-al/home.
Share with others: