The Alabama gambling bill that would have represented one of the biggest expansions of gaming anywhere in the U.S. is now a niche proposal that would legalize lottery only. The Senate Tourism Committee late Tuesday stripped the bill of retail and online sports betting, along with the chance to build seven brick-and-mortar casinos.
The change came after not 100% behind the expansion.
The tribe owns and operates three physical casinos in the land and potentially would have had the opportunity for one more off the reservation. Robbie McGhee, representing the tribe, had testified previously that it wouldn’t get behind a bill that it did not consider good business.
The latest proposal would allow for some gambling at existing racetracks and bingo halls across the state. It also calls for a special election Sept. 10 for voters to approve the measure. Alabama is currently one of five states in the U.S. that does not have a lottery.
Proposal must clear Senate, go back to House 423r6b
The bill is now headed to the full Senate for a vote, and should it there, would have to go back to the House for approval due to all of the changes. Lawmakers have time to continue to massage the proposal before the legislature’s planned adjournment May 20.
The bill, which is a constitutional amendment, needs a three-fifths majority to before it gets on the ballot.
Casinos, sports betting removed from Alabama gambling plan; historical horse racing, pari-mutuel and lottery remain: https://t.co/xZVAnzyukU
An Alabama Senate committee approved a scaled-back version of gambling legislation on Tuesday, bills…
— CDC Gaming Reports (@CDCNewswire) March 6, 2024
While the package of bills had moved fairly quickly through the House, it has struggled to gain traction in the Senate, where Senators themselves last week feared that some would try to “ram out” a revamped bill and called the rush on the bill bad government.
