A message from the Alabama Policy Institute
As the legislative session comes to a close, there is still significant division amongst lawmakers on the issue of statewide legalization and expansion of gambling. Those dividing lines seem to be regarding the types of gambling, the system of governance, and the distribution of possible revenue.
House members are demanding that the Senate reconsider their original plan to curtail gambling by allowing unlimited sports betting licenses and legalizing Vegas-style casinos statewide. Recently, the NCAA President urged state lawmakers to ban prop betting on college athletes.
“Sports betting issues are on the rise across the country with prop bets continuing to threaten the integrity of competition and leading to student-athletes getting harassed,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement posted on social media. “The NCAA has been working with states to deal with these threats and many are responding by banning college prop bets.”
Louisiana and other states have listened and responded by curtailing sports-betting in their state, but Alabama lobbyists and House members are still engaged in a full court press.
Legislators are also demanding specific language for the expansion of Medicaid, funding for prisons and their other pet projects, and that the measure remain on the November ballot. There is new talk of moving the measure to an October ballot but that idea seems to miss both the mark of saving $5 million for a special election and also ensures a maximum number of pro-gambling voters for one of the most watched congressional races in the nation.
Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the House enabling legislation provides merely for the possibility of using a small portion of gambling proceeds for educational purposes by allowing the option of a “last dollar scholarship” program for a certain number of certain kids going to certain 2-year schools under certain conditions. However, that program was written conditionally, wasn’t a given, and wasn’t a focus of the legislation, public conversation, or public debate. Both sets of bills estimated that the people of Alabama would lose about $350 million of their earnings annually on lottery tickets alone.
The Senate passed bill divided gambling revenue into thirds with 1/3 going to Infrastructure, 1/3 going to the General Fund, and 1/3 going to the Education Trust Fund with priorities and projects selected annually by legislators.
Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. Both the House and Senate gambling bills were written to expand and legalize gambling statewide; they were also written with the express purpose of maximizing the monetary losses of our own neighbors. If passed, the gambling bills will only benefit those who profit off the losses of others. Expanding and legalizing gambling will not serve to benefit Alabama students or the majority of Alabamians.