The Mega Millions jackpot soared to $1.15 billion on Christmas Eve after all tickets purchased failed to match the six numbers drawn.
The sum represents the fifth-largest prize of all time. After taxes, the winner or winners are expected to take home roughly $516.1 million in cash. Winnings are subject to an automatic 24% tax, and taking home a billion dollars would place a participant in the top tax bracket, practically assuring an additional 37% tax on the jackpot.
Alabama does not participate in Mega Millions because it has no legal lottery system. However, that hasn’t stopped thousands of Alabamians from participating in the chance to win big. Many residents now simply go across state lines to Tennessee, Mississippi, Florida, and Georgia to purchase their tickets.
Last legislative session, Alabama lawmakers attempted to pass a bill that would’ve established a lottery and allowed Mega Millions tickets to be sold in the state. The effort ultimately fell short after the House and Senate couldn’t agree on a final product. The Senate’s gambling bill was different than the version approved by the House in that it outlawed electronic bingo, featured no Class III casinos, no sports betting, or any form of electronic gambling.
House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville), who pushed the legislation in the House, is now hoping that the Senate gets on board with implementing a lottery.
“We’re hopeful that, if we’re going to go down this road, that the Senate takes the bull by the horns and really gets us something that’s reasonable, that can be supported by members in the House,” Daniels said.
He noted data indicates that over 70% of Alabamians now favor a lottery.
“Right now, you look at the price of gas. You’re talking about driving 25-30 minutes to the state line to play the lottery when you can go within a quarter of a mile from your home to purchase a lottery ticket.”
State Sen. Arthur Orr, Chair of the Finance and Taxation Education Committee, thinks the people of Alabama should have a say in the matter.
“I think that we ought to try to see if the votes are there for a lottery,” said Orr. “Not talking about any type of gaming. Not talking about expansion. But, put a lottery on the ballot. Because the people I talk to – whether they be from South Alabama, North Alabama – it all starts with wanting a lottery vote,” Orr said recently on FM Talk 1065’s “The Jeff Poor Show. “And then after that, it gets more complex, but a very strong majority seem to want that lottery vote, and that’s something I think elected legislators need to be sensitive to.”
State. Sen. Chris Elliot also believes that Alabamians “just want to be able to vote on a lottery.”
“The people want the lottery, I mean, that’s basically what they’re after,” Elliott said. “And this focus on the politics between the House version and the Senate version and why this passed and why that didn’t pass is not the issue as far as the people are concerned.”
Even with the residents of Alabama supporting a lottery, Elliot isn’t optimistic about the progress of legislation that would help establish it.
“Unfortunately, what the Senate passed was, I think, all that the Senate was going to pass,” he said. “And I continue to hear out of my House colleagues that we’re not going to compromise on this, we’re not going to compromise on that. And unfortunately, if that’s the position, then I just don’t see a path forward for a conference committee report that has things that are untenable for certain senators in there.
Alabama is one of five states in the U.S. that doesn’t have a lottery. The next drawing for Mega Millions is set for today.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
