Governor to call Special Session for Lottery
Says it would raise $225-Million.
Governor Bentley says he will call a special session of the Legislature to consider a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide lottery.
He says he will travel the state first, to promote the legislation that would set up a vote by Alabama residents to amend the Alabama Constitution, which currently bans lotteries.
Bentley says the lottery would solve Alabama’s funding problems, would be run by a commission to ensure it is run fairly, and would eliminate the need for additional band-aid approaches to funding state government.
The last time residents were asked about a statewide lottery was in 1999 under Governor Don Siegelman. Voters rejected it, and Siegelman was convicted of taking a donation for a lottery promotion fund in return for naming Hospital Executive Richard Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board, He is due to be released from jail next year.
Bentley is not saying when he will call the special session.
House Minority Leader, Craig Ford, released a statement in response to Gov. Bentley’s call for special session for lottery bill:
“Democrats have spent two decades calling for a lottery, and I am grateful to see Gov. Bentley and some Republican Legislators taking up our cause. But as Sen. Del Marsh has said, a lottery will not save Medicaid and the Regional Care Organizations that are the heart of the Medicaid Reform. A lottery will do nothing for this year’s Medicaid shortfall, and at best will be nothing more than a band aid for the General Fund that will leave us right back where we are now in just a few years.
The lottery is a one-shot deal, and a lottery for the General Fund will become, as it has in other states, a victim to legislative shell games; it will become nothing more than a slush fund for legislators. If the lottery doesn’t pattern the Georgia lottery and HOPE Scholarship, I believe the people will have a hard time trusting the politicians not to abuse the lottery revenue for their own benefit.”
Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) released the following statement regarding the Governor Bentley’s call of a lottery in a special session of the Alabama Legislature.
“There is little doubt that a special session is needed to address funding for Medicaid and the Regional Care Organizations (RCOs). The legislature made a commitment to fund the RCOs and in speaking with my colleagues in the Senate and House, I am hopeful that we will continue to make progress toward achieving that goal. It important that we continue this revolutionary transformation of the Medicaid system, which is acting as a pilot for continued healthcare reforms and is projected to save the state millions of dollars over time.”
“In my discussions with Governor Bentley, I have, and will continue to encourage him to call the session in early August. This will leave the window open for the legislature to consider a lottery proposal and put it on the ballot this November. Any referendum passed by the legislature after August 24th would require a special election costing taxpayers $4 million, which is an unnecessary expense to the state at a time of budget shortfalls.”
You can watch the Governor’s video news release HERE.
