The people want gambling, the real question is whether the House gets a bill passed

This week Alabama took a step towards legalizing the lottery, casino gaming and sports betting.

However, questions still remain about whether a bill like this gets through the Alabama House of Representatives.

Ignoring the fact that there are only a few legislative days left, and some believe that this was just a ploy to get to a special session, are there enough votes in the House to get Alabama over this hump?

You can go ahead and ignore the lottery aspect of this bill, the people are for it overwhelmingly.

The casinos are the hang-up. Can the Poarch Band of Creek Indians get a new facility? Will those operating quasi-legal gambling fronts be given legal status?

Previous incarnations of this bill would have basically created monopolies in different areas of the state where only certain people could own gambling outfits; those people were happy.

Some legislators, however, wanted a different process on awarding gambling licenses that would allow a bidding process to take place in which those current players are allowed the rights to make a final high bid.

So this isn’t a series of geographically isolated monopolies handed down by the state, they are now monopolies with extra steps.

Will deep-pocketed out-of-state players try to buy in on Jefferson County, Mobile and the North Alabama casinos? Would anyone want to buy into Houston, Greene and Macon Counties or will the current players be left alone?

These questions will all come into play when the Alabama State House takes up the measure and decides whether to open up the state to gaming.

But maybe the question should be whether they decide to take up the matter at all.

During an interview on WVNN in Huntsville, State Senator Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) suggested this may not even come up at all in the House.

Orr, who voted “no” on comprehensive gambling bills this session, noted that he was not surprised to see this bill pass the Alabama Senate; however, he does not expect the bill to even be taken up in the House.

Orr said, “I think what [the House will] wind up doing, is, as politicians like to do, they want to ‘study that issue’ so I think it’ll be a punt for them, and they’ll say, ‘Well, we just ran out of time.’ So, I think they’ll look at it, talk about it, and do nothing.”

If that speculation is accurate, many believe Governor Kay Ivey may call a special session and order the legislature to tackle the issue after this regular session is over.

Why would that be different?

The same competing gambling interests will be at play, and while all seem to want gambling in some form, the final form seems evasive.

This issue remains the same as it ever was. There is not a question about whether the people of Alabama support a gambling package, it is about whether the legislature can pass one.

So, as we appear to be moving towards some form of resolution on this never-ending issue, we may not be all that close after all.

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Dale Jackson is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 7-11 AM weekdays on WVNN and on Talk 99.5 from 10AM to noon.