The Alabama Senate sponsor of a comprehensive gambling proposal that’s already cleared the House has requested it get Senate committee consideration this week.
But Senate Republican support for the package is still shaky and some want to scale down the bills that in their current form would allow for the sale of lottery tickets, legalized sports betting and up to 10 casinos with table games and slot machines. The package passed the House with a majority of Republicans and all Democrats voting in favor.
But should the Senate change the bills significantly, that support could fall apart, Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, told Alabama Daily News.
“There is a lot of interest in trying to find a path (to passage),” Albritton said “… The concern is, what can we put together that is palatable and passable and also passable in the House and acceptable by the governor.
“And that’s going to be for my friends to figure out because I’ve already got the solution in hand.”
Some Senate Republicans think the bill is too big, especially as it relates to casinos and sports betting.
“There are a whole lot more members focused on allowing the people of Alabama to vote on a lottery,” said Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, said.
The bill is assigned to the Senate Tourism Committee. As of Sunday morning, the committee hadn’t set a meeting for the upcoming week. There are eight Republicans on the 11-member committee, including Albritton and Elliott. Should Democrats support it as they did in the House, Albritton would still need two more Republicans to vote with him to get the bills out of committee.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, is also on the Tourism Committee. On Friday, he said the Republican Caucus would again discuss the legislation when it meets early this week and agreed there are still many differing opinions.
“That would be a polite way of saying that,” Livingston said.
Amendments are expected if and when the bill gets to committee.
“The focus is getting something the majority is comfortable with,” Elliott, who opposes the bill in its current form.
“… Now we back it up to the point where we get the votes to pass.”
A bill that would only allow for a lottery has been tried before and fell apart amid opposition from various gambling interests. Alabama’s Constitution prohibits gambling and a lottery would have to be approved by voters through an amendment, likely on the November ballot. Advocates for casinos and sports betting see being included alongside a lottery amendment as the key to win support for a more expansive gambling plan.
Meanwhile, Albritton said a lottery would put “gambling in every hamlet in the state” without the revenue and regulations to stop illegal gambling the larger proposal brings.
“It would be unpalatable, unsatisfying and not enough,” he said.
Because it’s a constitutional amendment, that legislation needs a three-fifths majority to pass the Senate. That’s 21 votes.
House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, on Capitol Journal Friday, said the bill will help put a stop to illegal and unregulated gambling in the state.
“Without question, there is illegal operators in our state that is organized crime,” Ledbetter said.