Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb and Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, the two Democratic candidates for governor of Alabama, see gambling as a way to take back the office now held by a Republican. GOP political columnist and former Alabama House member Steve Flowers said, “It’s an easy play for Democrats. If you put that issue on the ballot, it would win overwhelmingly.” Alabama is one of just six states that do not have a lottery; voters rejected it in 1999. It also does not allow casino gambling, but the Poarch Band of Creek Indians operates electronic bingo casinos in the state. Maddox said he would work with the tribe on a gaming compact.
Cobb said her plan, the “Lifelong Learner Lottery,” would be “completely transparent” and “guarantee funding for our schools.” She said, “Currently, those funds leave Alabama to educate the children of Georgia, Florida and Tennessee.” Cobb’s lottery proposal would fund K-4 and childcare programs, career tech education for high school students and finance federal Pell Grants for those who qualify so they can attend two or four-year colleges tuition-free.
Maddox’s “Alabama Education Lottery” plan would provide scholarships for students going into higher education or workforce development and expand the state’s pre-K program. His plan also would create a “Promise Program” to fund the state’s poorest school systems and provide grants to help schools use existing health and psychological programs to improve education. “Alabama is already in the past with us ranking at or near the bottom of every major quality-of-life measure. Even worse, surrounding states are moving past us rapidly and without leadership, we will never catch up,” Maddox said.
A third Democratic candidate, former state legislator James Fields, also has proposed a lottery program that would invest in schools labeled as failing, finance federal Pell Grants, support community colleges or vocational/technical school education and provide resources to curb addictive gambling.
Gambling opponents believe a lottery is a regressive tax that impacts poor people disproportionately. Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Dawson, a youth pastor, said a lottery “preys on those who can least afford it. I don’t want Alabama to continue to be followers of other states. I want us to take the lead. The best vision for Alabama is to have a well thought out plan for businesses to grow and communities to thrive so we don’t have to take a chance on gambling.” Others fear a lottery would pave the way to casino gambling. Another GOP candidate, state Senator Bill Hightower, said, “As soon as a lottery comes to our state, gambling and casinos will follow, and believe me, no one in Alabama wants the likes of Tony Soprano lobbying the statehouse.”
But the two leading GOP candidates for governor, incumbent Governor Kay Ivey and Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, are more open-minded regarding a lottery. Ivey said the legislature needs put the issue on the table. “Any lottery that is a simple lottery is popular with the people,” Ivey said. But she also warned a lottery could “automatically open the door for all kinds of gambling. That’s not a good thing.”
Battle said voters ought to voice their opinion. He stated, “I look at a lottery as a financial tool. We don’t need to make a knee-jerk reaction about where that money will go. We need to look at what’s worked and what hasn’t worked in other states. If a majority of Alabamians want a lottery, then we need to get it right the first time.”
Maddox said his proposed lottery could generate $300 million annually. But Joe Godfrey, executive director of the Alabama Citizen’s Action Program, an interdenominational ministry that bills itself as “Alabama’s moral compass,” stated, “That is not possible. The actual number is more likely to be $98 million, Godfrey said, noting the $300 million figure comes from an Auburn University at Montgomery study.
Maddox said he disagrees with Godfrey’s “findings of facts.” He said Arkansas, for example, allocates 21 percent of lottery proceeds for state education programs, Tennessee allocates 39 percent, Georgia 27 percent and Florida 30 percent. The U.S. average is 33 percent, according to the Auburn-Montgomery analysis. “For months, our policy team has researched relevant studies and financial data from surrounding states in crafting the Alabama Education Lottery. The cruelty of ALCAP’s position is that Alabama’s children are not being prepared for a 21st century economy, and too many Alabamians can’t afford college or workforce development,” Maddox said. “To do nothing is forfeiting our children’s future. It is easy to cast stones and aspersions, However, working Alabama families are tired of educating the next generations from Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.”
Derryn Moten, chairman of the History and Political Science Department at Alabama State University, said the lottery issue may be “moralized” in the months to come. “I recall people saying, ‘This is going to exploit the vulnerable and marginalize the poor,’ and I do think all those things are potentially true. We are going to hear a lot of moralizing, but I think a lot of it will be disingenuous.”
Don Siegelman, Alabama’s last Democratic governor, had proposed an “education lottery” in 1999. He said, “I don’t know if it would get the votes from the people now. At least from my experience, the citizens of Alabama really don’t trust the legislature with their tax dollars. They are not going to trust them with the lottery dollars and that is why it’s important to nail down the fact that the money would be spent on education.”
