The Alabama Senate recently voted 21-12 to approve Senate Bill 220, which would place on the March 3, 2020 ballot a measure allowing voters statewide to decide if they want a lottery. The proposed constitutional amendment now moves to the Alabama House. After the vote, state Senator Greg Albritton, the measure’s sponsor, said, “I’m pleased, a little surprised and grateful it’s over. Voters want to decide the issue of a lottery and don’t understand why everyone else has one and we don’t.”
The amendment would authorize a lottery played with paper tickets, including instant tickets and multistate lottery games like Powerball and Mega Millions. It would prohibit video lottery terminals that resemble slot machines. Senators added an amendment to allow electronic tickets for non-instant lottery games.
Alabama is one of five states without a lottery, along with Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada. The Legislative Service Agency estimated a paper lottery would generate $166.7 million annually. Proceeds would go toward repaying the state’s debt, then be split between the Alabama Trust Fund and general fund.
Alabama Senate President Del Marsh said, “I think it has a very good chance in the House. It’s a fairly clean bill. It’s dealing strictly with the lottery. I think the danger is if you try to pile anything on top of it”
Alabama voters rejected a state lottery proposed by then-Governor Don Siegelman in 1999. Former Governor Robert Bentley also proposed a state lottery in 2016, in response to Alabama’s budget crisis, but the measure failed in the legislature.
