State Sen. Albritton proposal would regulate, tax existing gaming without passage of a constitutional amendment

One of the difficulties in getting gaming expanded in Alabama has been overcoming the two-thirds supermajority required to get a constitutional amendment to remove the gambling prohibition from the 1901 Alabama Constitution on the ballot.

Although State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) has pledged to continue his efforts to get a comprehensive gaming bill done, he says he is considering options that would not require the constitutional amendment process.

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” the Escambia County Republican lawmaker said he is looking to regulate and tax Alabama’s existing gaming.

“I’ll tell you what I’m basically trying to get done — first of all, you’ve got to recognize in Alabama, we already have gaming going on,” Albritton said. “Most people don’t know we have 20 local constitutional amendments authorizing gaming in some form all over the state, OK? Then we also have the electronic games — online poke, you’ve got sports gaming. You’ve got fantasy gaming. You’ve got the fantasy parimutuel gaming. All of that is going on right now completely unregulated.”

“My concept is going to be to put the state in position that we can capture all of this activity, all of these transactions at one time through one legislation to capture it all and put the state in charge of that — to control it, to regulate it, to tax — and doing that by setting up the proper gaming commission, but initiating that without a [constitutional amendment]. We’re not trying to expand. What we’re trying to do is capture and control it,” he added.

Albritton likened the proposed process to the Simplified Sellers Use Tax, which legalized means for the state to collect sales taxes on online purchases.

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.