Alabama Comes Close to Legalizing Lottery

All previous efforts to make lottery legal in the state of Alabama have gone with the wind. Last Wednesday, the latest attempt was made and Alabama Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee approved the bill – but chances that it will be actually ed are still quite slim.

Needless to say, gambling is not looked upon with favor in the southern state. In total, six states in the USA – Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada, Utah and Alabama – do not have lottery as it is not legal. Alabama has three legally operating casinos that have been approved by the state’s officials and they’re run by the Poarch Creek band tribe; and even they only have bingo games on offer.

State Senator Paul Stanford is aware of the unwelcoming and inhospitable climate that his lottery bill is facing and even he doubts it can go all the way to being recognized. Last week, the bill cleared the committee with a 3-2 vote – but things still don’t look good for lottery in Alabama. Senate President, Dem Marsh, explained his anti-lottery stance:

“I don’t think that everything we do in the state ought to be under duress, to be honest – that the only reason you should consider a lottery is because ‘Ah, we can’t balance the budget all of a sudden. I don’t think that’s appropriate.”

The legalization of the bill would allow the state to multi-state lotteries like Powerball and Mega Millions. But since things seem to be going well for financially (there is no budget deficit in 2018), there’s not much need for regulating lottery in order to use tax measures to fill in the state’s vaults.

Also, the state would need to make changes to its constitution in order for this bill to and that would require a public referendum. However, the last time this conservative state voted on a similar question on referendum in 1999, the bill proposal was rejected.