MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – Alabama would get a lottery and four casinos under draft legislation that the Republican leader of the state senate distributed to legislators and reporters on Thursday.
Senate president Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said he is using the bill to jump-start the state conversation on gambling as a revenue source for the perpetually cash-strapped state. Marsh said he hopes to file the bill Tuesday after getting input. A public hearing could come as soon as Wednesday, he said.
“It’s just the bones of the bill, and I have entertained input from all my colleagues and I’m sure I’ll probably hear beyond that,” Marsh said. “I’m just putting the option out there for discussion. I think it’s worthy of discussion, and we’ll see as we move forward in the next week.”
The casinos would be located at the state’s four dog tracks, including Milton McGregor’s dog tracks in Birmingham and in Macon County; Greentrack in Eutaw; and Mobile Greyhound Park in Mobile County. Gambling revenue would be taxed at 13 percent. The money, as well as lottery proceeds, would go the General Fund.
To change the Alabama Constitution to allow a lottery or casino games would require the approval of three-fifths of the legislature and a majority of voters in a statewide referendum. The public vote would be held in September, according to Marsh’s draft bill.
Marsh said the bill is based on a study that his office paid for that projected four casinos and a state lottery could generate $400 million annually – with $330 million of that from a state lottery – for the state and create 11,000 new jobs.
The suggestion of gambling comes as legislators struggle with how to put together a budget facing a minimum $280 million hole and unfunded needs in corrections and Medicaid. Gov. Robert Bentley has proposed a $541 million tax package, including an increase in cigarette taxes.
“There are a lot of options there,” Marsh said. “At the end of the day, (Bentley) has been pretty insistent on $541 million from somewhere. The question is, will it be from revenue or cuts, or could it be from gaming.”
Bentley has said gambling would not solve the state’s 2016 budget because the money would not be available in time.
Marsh said he thought the state could float a bond against projected future gambling revenue to get through the next fiscal year.
The bill’s odds of passing aren’t clear. Marsh said he introduced the measure after Republican senators said they wanted to keep the idea of gambling “in play” as a solution.
One senator suggested that the odds of passage were longer.
“I don’t know what caucus meeting other people were in. The one I was in, I thought it got a pretty cold reception,” said Sen. Dick Brewbaker, R-Pike Road.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
