Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said he’s confident voters will approve a statewide lottery that would provide 5 million annually for the state’s general fund, starting in 2018. He said the money would not go to education, but lawmakers could direct the money where it’s most needed. “The greatest needs right now are Medicaid, but later on it may not be,” Bentley said. Some cuts to Alabama’s Medicaid system, which faces an million budget shortfall, recently took effect.
Bentley called a special legislative session August 15 to consider a lottery bill. He said he’s hopeful legislators will approve it by August 24, which is the deadline for placing the issue on the November ballot.
Currently Alabama is one of six states, including Mississippi, Utah, Alaska, Hawaii, and Nevada, that does not have a state lottery. Voters rejected former Governor Don Siegelman’s lottery proposal in 1999, which was widely opposed by church groups. “Times are different. The lottery that we’re going to propose is going to be a very clean, constitutional amendment that will have guidelines that the legislature will have to go by. We’ll have an oversight commission that will make sure that everything is done correctly,” Bentley said.
Bentley said, “I have prayed about this, I have agonized over this myself. The Bible doesn’t talk about lotteries, but it does talk about whether or not we take care of the poor. All I’m asking them is in their hearts, which is worse: someone going and using their own money that they earned and buying a lottery ticket or us not properly funding and taking care of children that are dying in the state? So, that’s what they need to think of.”
Meanwhile, state Senator Jim McClendon announced he will carry Bentley’s lottery-only bill and also introduce a measure allowing a lottery and electronic gaming terminals at state dog tracks. McClendon said he came up with the second proposal because several legislators said they’d fight lottery legislation unless it helps dog tracks where electronic bingo operations have been shut down by the state.
McClendon estimated his bill would bring in $427 million annual, with $100 million directed to the state’s education fund and the rest to the general fund. The bill would authorize video terminals at dog tracks in Birmingham, Mobile, Macon County and Greene County. He stressed that his proposal would not open the door to casino gambling in the state, nor does it authorize bingo. The measure also would direct the governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.
“I’d support either plan or a hybrid. I hope the governor’s bill makes it through. That will be fine with me. I want to get this lottery issue before the people. I want to do something about the sick kids getting medical care,” McClendon said. He stated he’d prefer that a lottery referendum go before the voters on election day instead of holding a special election, which would cost $3.1 million and have much lower turnout, he said.
