Fate of Alabama gambling could be in hands of 1 senator

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — The fate of gambling in Alabama could be in the hands of one lawmaker.

State Sen. Greg Albritton (R-Atmore) said he’s filing legislation that would give Alabamians a shot at winning the lottery. The bill would create a lottery and legalizes sports betting. It also would bring pari-mutuel betting, historical horse racing and electronic bingo to six locations around the state, including Macon County.

Albritton said he’s still getting the 21 votes needed for it to pass the Senate.

“If we don’t get this done this year, I think we’re going to lose the opportunity of gaining control of this industry in Alabama,” Albritton said. “It’ll be running all over the place and growing like crazy because we have no controls.”

One of those controls would be a 24% tax rate on all gambling in the state and a 1% or 2% tax on every sports bet made, depending on how much it is. He said these would be tethered to one of the six gambling locations and could be done virtually through an app.

He said the industry could rake in about $750 million. That would be split between local municipalities, roads and bridges plus education.

“We’re due for a recession. We’re due for a decline,” Albritton said. “If we get this passed, we won’t have to worry about that. It won’t affect us that much. That will be pulling in more revenue for us so that Alabama will be in still a very strong financial condition.”

State Sen. Rodger Smitherman (D-Birmingham) said he wants to see the revenue go toward child nutrition programs, Medicaid expansion, rural hospitals and other areas.

“We do have needs that are here now and that are going to occur as we move through the transition, how much grants we receive,” Smitherman said. “Will we receive grants or not?”

State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) said a comprehensive bill is hard to pass. He said special interest groups know a lottery will pass and want to make sure they are included in the bill.

“Get back to the basics and start with baby steps,” Orr said. “That first baby step is putting on the ballot an opportunity for the people to vote up or down on a lottery.”

If it passes both chambers, the constitutional amendment will go before voters in a special election. Albritton said that would be in mid-September. He said there’s a leadership meeting Tuesday morning to discuss it, but he’s prepared to file the bill whenever he gets the votes needed.

Lawmakers will start the second half of the session and their 17th legislative day Tuesday.