Last week, State Sen. Del Marsh (R-Anniston) delayed his so-called comprehensive gaming proposal to fine-tune the legislation that would set in motion a constitutional amendment for expanding gambling in Alabama.
Although Marsh insisted he had the votes for his bill’s passage, there are still a handful of Republican members in the State Senate that were publicly undecided on it.
During an appearance on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” on Friday, State Sen. Jabo Waggoner (R-Vestavia Hills) said he was among those undecided. However, he indicated he would support a simple lottery and predicted a simple lottery bill would pass immediately in the Senate.
“There’s still a lot of questions among the Senate membership, the Senate leadership,” he replied. “I think Del was wise postponing it a few days, carrying it over. It’s really complicated. I mean, if it was a simple lottery bill, I think it would have passed in great haste. Whatever passes, there is a vote of the people. That’s where it will really be decided if we take on the issue of expanding gambling in Alabama. But we understand the Governor is willing to sign a compact with the Indians. They have four facilities in Alabama. This would allow them to have one more casino up in north Alabama. They would have a total of five. But it is really complicated. It’s far-reaching, and it’s a big step for Alabama when you start talking about casinos and table games and slot machines, and do we really want to go there? But every state around us — Tennessee, Florida, Mississippi, Georgia — they all have at least lottery. Some have more. A lot of Alabamians are going across state lines to play the games. It’s estimated — whatever we have, if any — if it is simple lottery, we’re talking about $200-300 million a year in revenue. If we go the full route, we’re talking about maybe $700-800 million, which is huge for our budget.”
“School is still out on me,” Waggoner continued. “The lottery, yes. Of course, whether we know it or not, we have gambling in Alabama in the Indian casinos. I’ve never been in one. It doesn’t bother me people go to Wetumpka or Atmore or wherever. I’ve never been in one. When you start talking about public casinos, not Indian — we’re talking about public, opening up the horse track or dog track in Birmingham and VictoryLand and Greene County — you know, it is getting pretty widespread. But if it ends up like I think it is going to, I might just vote on it — you know, the whole package. But at the end of the day, it is the people of Alabama that decide. So, I would be voting to let the people of Alabama to say yes or no.”
Waggoner was not sure if the comprehensive package would be passed by a vote of the people, either.
“It’s still an open question,” he said. “In my opinion, the lottery would be a slam dunk. I think it would pass. We would be competing with the states around us. But when you get to private casinos, another Indian casino, I think school is still out as far as the public accepting that for the state we all grew up in.”
@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.
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