Alabama House Rejects Senate Gambling Bill that Omits Fun

The Alabama House of Representatives soundly rejected the State Senate’s versions of its gambling proposals, passing a motion of nonconcurrence on Thursday that will send the two-bill package to a conference committee.

The House originally passed its gambling package, consisting of HB151 and HB152, on February 15, with bipartisan support on a 70-32 vote.

See also:

• Florida Casinos
• Louisiana Casinos

Senate Strips Down House Gambling Expansion Plans

The House legislation called for a lottery, casinos, and legalized sports betting throughout the state. However, when the bills went to the Senate for approval, it became apparent that the other chamber would only support a much smaller bill.

In the Seante version, which passed on March 7, there was no sports betting component. In addition, it only allowed casinos to be operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, while former greyhound tracks and other locations would be allowed to offer pari-mutuel gambling on horse and dog racing. 

The House rejected that version of the bill, saying it leaves too much potential revenue on the table for Alabama.

“Simply put, the Senate plan leaves some $800 million on the table, and I hope to find a solution to this in conference,” said Representative Andy Whitt (R-Harvest), one of the architects of the House legislation.

House Democrats were also largely on board with their version of the plan, with Representative Sam Jones (D-Mobile) saying that Alabama shouldn’t lose out on sports betting revenue that is flowing to other nearby states.

“The citizen of this state ought to benefit from revenue from that,” Jones told reporters. “Alabama is not getting anything out of it.”

House, Senate Proposals ‘Not Even Close Bookends’

The two proposals do have some areas in common. In both plans, the state would enter into a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Both sides also agree that there should be a state gambling commission that would regulate all gambling, eliminating local constitutional amendments that allow bingo only in certain counties. 

But while those areas provide a starting ground for negotiations, not everyone is convinced there’s a common ground to be found between the two proposals. 

“If you take what we passed versus what the Senate passed, I think we’ve got to identify what that middle ground is first,” Rep. Chris Blackshear (R-Smiths Station) told reporters. “Because it is such a distance between the two, they’re not even close bookends.”

Some in the Senate, however, believe the difference can be made up in the conference committee.

“I think there’s a way forward,” Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D-Greensboro) told the Alabama Reflector. “I think that we left a lot of money on the table. I think that there’s a way to backtrack it.”

Both the House and the Senate will appoint three members to the conference committee in order to try to reconcile the bills. It has not yet been determined when that committee might begin meeting. 

House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter (R-Rainsville) says that the ultimate goal should be to leave gambling expansion up to the people of Alabama.

“If one thing has been made clear throughout this process, it’s that the people of Alabama want and deserve an opportunity to vote on this issue,” Ledbetter said in a statement. “I am hopeful that members of the House and Senate are successful in finding a compromise that positions them to do just that.”

(Image: Jeremy Graham/Alamy)