Alabama Senate Strips Down Gambling Bill, Passes Lottery Only

A stripped-down package of bills that started as a massive expansion of gambling — including retail and online sports betting, retail casinos and a state lottery — passed the Alabama Senate late Thursday and is headed back to the House for approval. The proposal would now only legalize a lottery, parimutuel betting and historic horse racing machines at seven locations.

Alabama is one of five states that currently does not have a legal lottery.

The bills — HB 151 and HB 152 — originated in the House and must now go back for approval, though it’s not a sure thing that will happen.

The package barely had enough votes to get out of the Senate. Twenty-one votes were needed for HB 151, which would send the decision to legalize to the voters — it passed 22-11. HB 152, which spells out the framework, passed 23-10.

Besides stripping the bill of most other forms of gambling, bill sponsor Senator Greg Albritton added in a special election on the issue to get it passed. Should the bills pass, voters would go to the polls on Sept. 10.

Albritton: This bill is a starting point

The bill that got through the House would have allowed for retail and online sports betting, the building of seven brick-and-mortar casinos and a lottery. But as soon as the package of bills started working its way through the Senate, it became clear that the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, who currently have a monopoly on gaming and own and operate three casinos in the state, were not 100% behind the proposals. In addition, there was opposition to the scope of the proposal from religious groups and others, while some lawmakers felt their concerns were not being heard.

Albritton said the changes were needed to move the proposals, which would also allow the state to compact with Poarch Creeks to allow them to expand their current offerings to include casino games.

“That’s true with any legislation, is trying to find what we can pass,” Albritton told AL.com. “The effort was trying to get control of this [gambling] industry. With this bill, we didn’t get complete control. We got some control. And that’s a beginning, assuming we can get this passed by the people and through the House.”