On Thursday, the Alabama Senate passed a compromise gambling bill that is dramatically different from the one that passed the House of Representatives last month.
Senator Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) carried the legislation in the Senate.
Albritton insisted that the public wants the opportunity to vote on a gambling bill
“They want the opportunity to vote on it,” Albritton said. “They want the opportunity to vote yes or no.”
The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill that included up to ten Class III casinos, sports betting, a compact with the Poarch Creek band of Indians (PCI), electronic gambling, a lottery and would dramatically increase the prevalence of legal gambling across the state.
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On Tuesday, the Senate tourism committee replaced the House version of the bill with a dramatically different bill that outlawed electronic bingo, had no Class III casinos, no sports betting, and no electronic gambling. The agreed upon committee substitute would generate $300 to $350 million — while the original House bill would have generated between $1 billion and $1.2 billion.
“The House has outperformed us, said Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) speaking about the changes in the bill. “They get it. We ain’t getting it up here for some reason.”
Albritton said that the House bill would have brought in over a $billion each and every year for legislators to spend. Albritton compared it to the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds that the state received from the federal government in the past two years.
“It would have been like getting an ARPA check every year,” Albritton said.
“I don’t want to be a part of stripping down something and tell them to take it or else,” Smitherman said.
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According to the synopsis of the substitute, “Under Section 65 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, lotteries and gift enterprises are prohibited. This bill would propose an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, to establish an official state lottery to be administered by a newly created Alabama Gambling Commission.
The proposed amendment would authorize pari-mutuel wagering, including wagering on historical racing computerized machines at the racetracks in Greene, Jefferson, Macon, and Mobile Counties, at an additional location in Greene County, and at the existing bingo halls in Houston County and the Town of White Hall in Lowndes County.
As proposed and passed, the change would levy a tax of between 24 and 32 percent on identified facilities conducting pari-mutuel wagering activities as provided by general law. The proposed amendment would require the Legislature to establish a law enforcement division within the Alabama Gambling Commission to police lottery games and other gambling activities and eliminate unlawful gambling activities.
It would also repeal all local bingo amendments and prohibit the enactment of any future local amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, providing for gambling activities and require the Governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI)
On Thursday night after Senate passage, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians released a statement: “It is good that the Senate pushed through today’s discussions and kept the gaming legislation moving forward.”
“Like everyone else in Alabama, we will continue watching these legislative actions. We trust that our lawmakers will keep moving this issue forward and give Alabamians a chance to vote on what they want gaming to look like in the state.”
One concern of Smitherman’s was that the three PCI run casinos in Wetumpka, Atmore, and Montgomery would still be able to have electronic bingo (because they are regulated by the federal government’s Bureau of Indian Affairs); while the six state licensed gambling halls in Houston, Lowndes, Mobile, Greene, Macon, and Jefferson County would not.
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“Let our other operators have the same privileges,” Smitherman insisted.
“My biggest concern is that we have a level playing field,” said Sen. Robert Stewart (D-Selma) who represents Lowndes County where there is a gambling establishment in Whitehall.
There were at least nine amendments adopted altering the substitute bill that had passed out of committee two days earlier. Others were rejected by the body.
Smitherman expressed concern that the tax rate on the gambling establishments was too high. At his request that rate was lowered to between 20 and 28% in an amendment to the bill.
The bill passed the Senate 22 to 11. 15 Republicans voted with 7 Democrats to force the bill through. In addition to Albritton, the Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed (R-Jasper), Sen. Steve Livingston (R-Scottsboro), and Rules Committee Chairman Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) voted with the Democrats to pass the gambling bill. 11 conservative Republican Senators voted no.
Because of the changes in the bill, it now goes back to the House of Representatives. The House may vote to pass the Senate version of HB151, or they may vote to non-concur with the Senate bill and ask that it go to a conference committee.
The conference committee would be tasked with developing a compromise version. If they do not, then the bill dies. If they do prepare a third version of the bill, both Houses would still have to vote on it.
If passed, since this is a constitutional amendment, Alabama voters will get an opportunity to decide the issue for the first time since 1999.
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