More than a week after the 2024 legislative session adjourned, excuses for the failure of gambling legislation still persist.
And its absurdity is overwhelming. Especially the absurdity coming from the Alabama Senate Republicans.
To be clear, Alabama voters will not have the opportunity to vote on gambling legislation because Alabama has 15 senators.
There is no other way.
Oh, but they tried to get around it. They have gone to great lengths to explain how they sold out voters.
Sen. Chris Elliott and other Senate Republicans are trying to argue that the House has failed to pass a lottery-only bill, Sen. Arthur Orr said in a radio interview, saying the House has failed to pass a lottery-only bill. He said he had been told that he could not accept it. The lottery, bingo, and rewriting history was an eye-opener.
Orr also said in the interview that people primarily just want to vote in the lottery and pretend that they are not interested in other forms of gambling, which is as if the 15 It was an attempt by senators to appear as if they were protecting the public from gambling. Undesirable expansion of gambling.
That’s BS.
First, lottery tickets are not popular. Educational lottery is popular.
As far as I know, the Senate offered the people of Alabama the opportunity to vote in an education lottery where, unlike lotteries in surrounding states, all lottery proceeds go toward scholarship programs and certain education-related expenses. never happened.
In fact, the lottery bill Orr and his allies proposed this year included one-third funding for infrastructure, the general fund, and “general education.” No one wants such nonsense. Because it’s the slush fund for the brother-in-law project.
The House proposed a comprehensive gambling bill because polls showed that a majority of Alabamians want the opportunity to vote on some form of gambling. By doing so, the state can pay for some projects and significantly increase the revenue generated. There are also educational lotteries.
Also, for the millionth time: there it is. teeth. No such thing. thing. As. A. Only by lottery. invoice.
Not in Alabama. It’s about how we’ve allowed our laws and federal law to evolve, especially with regard to the numerous constitutional amendments and how federal law dictates what can and cannot happen on tribal lands.
Simply put, if a legislator uses the terms “clean lottery bill” or “lottery-only bill,” that legislator is either lying or has no idea what he or she is talking about. That’s it.
Or, in the case of Senate Republicans, to ignore the fact that they have clearly sold themselves short. Because that’s what they did.
And that becomes abundantly clear if we remember recent history.
All the nonsense spewed by Senate Republicans, who pride themselves on being the guardians of public safety, about how the House version was too expansive and how Alabamians just don’t want those games is completely undone by one fact. .The Senate passed a nearly identical comprehensive gambling bill Two degrees In very recent history.
The last time, three years ago, the bill easily passed the Senate on a 23-9 vote. The implementing bill detailing six casino licenses, sports betting, an educational lottery and an agreement with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians was approved 30-2.
Mr. Elliott voted to approve the bill.
Senators were so upset after the 2021 legislative session that no comprehensive gambling bill was passed, and they told the House that any future gambling bills should be considered by the House.
That’s what the House of Representatives did for months to consider the issue. They developed essentially the same bill.
But this time, when the bill reached the Senate, there was no leadership to steer it and protect lawmakers from special interests. This means that the impact of intimidation was greater and that the promise of future high office was not offset by the consequences of losing one’s position within the caucus.
There is one more thing I would like to point out here. The Porch Creeks have a lot of responsibility, but it feels like a lot of it is being done to shift the blame onto the legislators whose job it was to make this decision. It reeks of prejudice and despair.
Whatever PCI officials did or did not do, they did what they believed was in the best interest of tribal members and the community. That’s what they should do.
That’s what our legislators need to do for us.
When our wishes, goals, and best interests do not align with those of the people of Poe Arch Creek, our legislators are supposed to serve us. These should not be influenced by PCI donations or Alpha’s threat to fund primary candidates. They’re supposed to do what’s right for us.
If not, it’s not PCI’s fault. Or is it because of Alpha? Or it’s because of some other group that’s making donations or has some kind of political influence.
When this omnibus bill was introduced in the Senate near the start of this session, it came as a surprise to no one. All the senators knew it was coming. They all knew what the bill contained. This had been discussed for weeks, and many of them were present at various meetings where the subject matter was discussed in detail. And everyone was on the same page, there was a vote, and there was assurance that this was the future of the state.
The House fulfilled its promise. The special interests did exactly what everyone expected them to do.
Only one group was sold out.
