A message from the Alabama Policy Institute
The long-awaited gambling proposal was revealed last week and it is on a fast track in the House. The bills, especially the enabling legislation (HB 152) is long, complex, and rife with problems. For anyone wanting to vote for a clean lottery or a bill that decreases gambling in Alabama, this isn’t it.
In addition to a paper lottery (at least for now), the package proposes to legalize 10 Vegas-style casino locations and unlimited sports betting.
Legislators have hand-picked Macon County, Greene County, Lowndes County, Mobile County, Houston County, City of Birmingham. In addition, the three current Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI) casinos would be authorized for Class III gambling. PCI might also be awarded with an additional location in an undisclosed city/county in the northeast part of the state and/or in the Birmingham Metro Area. The bills also allow the hand-picked locations to apply for a sports betting license but also allows for an unlimited number of sports betting licenses; access to sports betting on over 2 million smartphones, computers, and devices and the addition of ten casinos is a huge culture changing expansion of gambling in the state even for those who support the concept of a state sponsored lottery.
Hand-picked locations sound good to those who don’t want a casino in their backyard (which is most of Alabama). However, authors give the appointed gaming commission the ability to transfer casino ownership and licenses without legislative approval or a statewide vote. In addition, there is language stating that if Houston or Lowndes County aren’t awarded a license in the next five years, the commission and a simple majority of a city council or county commission would allow the licensing of a new casino anywhere in the state as long as it is 50 miles away from an existing facility. Both of those provisions open the door to having a casino in any city or county in Alabama.
The Constitutional Amendment (CA) ensures that the legislature may authorize any additional forms of gambling upon a favorable report from the unelected and unaccountable gaming commission and legislative approval without any additional vote of the people until the end of time. Digital gambling? Check. Virtual gambling? Check. Whatever’s next? Check.
The CA also outlines that the legislature may increase/decrease the rate of taxation upon the operators with a favorable report from the unelected and unaccountable gaming commission and legislative approval without any vote of the people.
Strangely, those who have spent the last six months arguing that the reason behind their proposal was to shut down illegal operations have written into the CA that current illegal operations may remain in operation through January 1, 2027.
Bill authors have also written corruption into the bill by exempting the Executive Director of the gaming commission from ethics laws and allowing appointed gaming commission members to have a financial interest in the license holders they regulate. The legislation also ties the hands of the state courts to handle any complaints and or issues arising out of the legislation. Applicants who apply and do not receive licenses are barred from seeking relief in the court.
The appointed Gaming Commission Executive Director is tasked with hiring an enforcement officer to oversee the law enforcement arm of the unaccountable gaming commission. There is no guidance as to how large that staff of officers would be, but they would have full police powers and serve outside the scope of the Attorney General and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. The powers of the enforcement division are alarming; they would have total police powers and it is written in the legislation that why may use “any means necessary” to enforce any state law on behalf of the unelected and unaccountable commission.
The lottery commission also has corruption written into the fabric of the new bureaucracy. There is conflict of interest language for the members of the lottery commission, but only if the conflict pertains to a contract over $1 million. The paid president of the commission is elected by the other commission members and may hire an undisclosed number of additional employees; none of those employees or commission members appears to be subject to ethics laws or have any accountability to any other entity. Contracts and agreements aren’t subject to the Alabama Public Records Law. They have also exempted themselves from both the Administrative Procedures Act and state bidding laws.
There are multiple places in the bill under both the casino and lottery section where it refers to maximizing profits and/or maximizing revenue. Clearly, that is the focus of the proponents of the bill. There is little/no acknowledgment of any negative repercussions of changing the culture of the state or of the societal consequences that follow increased access to gambling. API estimates that with this type of expansion, there would be an increase in problem gambling by 37%. Even though one in five problem gamblers attempt suicide, the only money set aside to help problem gamblers is $200,000, but only if someone doesn’t claim their “prize money”.
Finally, the Constitutional Amendment (HB 151) language proposed is vague and intentionally positive. It is not a representation of the foils of this proposal and is meant to mislead the public into voting for something they might not support otherwise. Don’t be fooled into believing that this proposal reduces gambling or merely creates a state sponsored lottery. This isn’t even lipstick on a pig. It’s a trojan pig.