Late Thursday afternoon, the final day of the 2024 Alabama legislative session, there was a flurry of unexpected gambling activity.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a dead bill comes back to life in the House, new talk about conference committees, and maybe even a last-minute save for this session’s most controversial bill. Ta.
And just as quickly, the story fizzled out. The bill is dead again. Everyone went home.
It seemed like a microcosm of the whole gambling ordeal – lots of buzz, but ultimately disappointment surrounded by confusion. And outwardly, it was exactly that.
But behind the scenes, where legislative sausages are made, there was a different reality. It’s still a microcosm, but it’s one of the many behind-the-scenes battles between the Alabama House and Alabama Senate that have been going on throughout the session.
Two House members with knowledge of the ordeal say the last-minute move by the House is an attempt to shift anger over senators’ refusal to pass the bill to the House, where they plan to quickly withdraw the bill. It was said that he had received information. Gambling laws.
The plan, they told APR on condition of anonymity, was to essentially completely rework the bill proposed by Rep. Jim Hill into a stopgap lottery bill. Senate Republicans then pass the bill and immediately adjourn to send yet another egregious gambling bill to the House.
“This was a way for them to tell everyone, ‘We sent you two lottery bills and they didn’t go through,'” the source said. “That’s what we dealt with the whole session. Bull**it like that.”
As harsh as it may sound, this issue accurately depicts the sentiment on both sides of the issue and, according to many lawmakers, divides Alabama Republicans in many ways. This highlights that this is becoming more and more obvious.
On the one hand, there are more civic-minded and serious members of Congress, both in the Senate and the House, who believe that this is a vital service role and that they should take seriously the task of serving their constituents and leading the nation. There is. Meanwhile, selfish and unscrupulous members of Congress see the job as a means to further their personal projects and personal beliefs. Many of them have no interest in supporting a functional government as long as they are successful in promoting a particular agenda.
“It’s alarming to me that more and more members of Congress think their job here is to serve special interests, but they don’t realize they’re serving special interests. “It doesn’t seem like it’s happening,” the longtime Republican said. “Just because a group believes what you believe doesn’t mean they’re not a special interest group. There are people who write bill after bill and spend the rest of their time complaining that special interests have too much influence.”
It’s no surprise that gambling laws highlight the gulf between these two groups. Understand and create workable laws because Alabama has unique laws and a long history of mixing up local gaming laws and confusing everything with uneven enforcement and judicial decisions. requires a lot of effort.
That’s why House members were especially angry when the Senate killed the first comprehensive gambling bill. The House spent considerable time and effort putting these together, and they were our best effort to address the problem and provide a workable solution that would provide solid economic benefits to the state.
But what the Senate put forward was completely unworkable and could be heard by a group of people who don’t take this issue seriously. Their bill does not have the support of a wide range of stakeholders, nor does it generate enough revenue to support the new government agencies created.
“There was no leadership in the Senate,” said a lobbyist who has helped pass gambling laws for years. “It’s that simple. In the House of Representatives, Speaker (Nathaniel) Ledbetter made it clear that this is a serious project that can be used to pay for a lot of good things and solve a lot of bad problems. Look at who worked on it (in the House). Look at how seriously they worked on it. Read their legislation and how thorough it is.
“Now let’s go to the Senate, where no one was leading. Look who took center stage.” It was just people trying to be happy. They didn’t take it seriously, except maybe Garland (Gudger) was there at the end. And it showed.
For many members of Congress, and those who work closely with the Legislature, the lack of serious public servants within the organization is a growing concern. And the 2024 session did nothing to allay their concerns.
From bills that would allow librarians to be arrested, to laws that would make education about contraception illegal, to bans on DEI, to increasing hate against transgender people, to outlawing assistance with absentee ballot applications, the 2024 session , was filled with useless bills that did nothing, the sole purpose of which was to help people request absentee ballots. Name of sponsor in news article. And while that has always been a feature of government to some extent, some are concerned about the growing number of MPs who specialize solely in that type of legislation.
“I don’t understand how some of these people continue to get elected,” one longtime lawmaker told APR. “Look at their legislative history and find out what they’re sponsoring. There’s almost nothing in their district. Not even something simple. Trying to fly a Confederate flag in a classroom or something. There will probably be 15 bills to do that, but it doesn’t matter at all for things like roads and broadband.”
The question, of course, is whether they will get elected. Incumbent members of the Alabama Legislature are re-elected more than 90 percent of the time, and that doesn’t appear to be changing. However, some lawmakers think the failure of the gambling bill could change that.
Their questions arose not just because it was a gambling law, but because it was essentially a bill that gave voters the opportunity to vote on changing the law. The fear that MPs will prevent people from voting on important issues is also well-held among those who do not support gambling legislation because it benefits special interests and personal interests. do not have.
“Maybe this is the wake-up call we need,” said one House member. “It’s okay for us to disagree, but we need to take our jobs seriously. If you don’t let people vote on this big issue, I think some people will have a problem with it. Many I hope people do that.”
