Action 8’s Political Analyst Steve Flowers talks about gaming bills in the legislature
The Alabama Legislature is in its final days and weeks of the session, and the gambling legislation that Governor Kay Ivey said was a top priority for her to see passed, now has an uncertain future. On Tuesday, two different House and Senate proposals were sent to a conference committee to try to negotiate a compromise on gambling legislation. The two chambers remain apart on whether to allow sports betting and multiple casinos in the state. The legislation has been stalled since March, when the Senate scaled back a sweeping House-passed plan that would have allowed a lottery, sports betting, and up to 10 casinos with table games. The Senate’s version would not allow sports betting and would not allow casinos outside of tribal land.
Action 8 Political Analyst Steve Flowers says polling he has seen shows that people want to be able to vote on a lottery and gambling in November. “I suspect what’s going to happen is that on the final week of the session, the Conference Committee will come back with a proposal and the House and Senate members that to take it, leave it. And you may have some to say, well, I don’t have what I want in there. So I’m leaving. If they go home, and they don’t allow the Alabamians at least to vote on lottery, which by the way, is not where the real money is in this package. If they go home, they’re going to meet some mad constituents,” says Flowers.
