Alabama Says No To Senate Lottery Bill, Fails By Two Votes
- Potential lottery and casino bill in Alabama fail to pass in the Senate.
- The bill falls just two votes short of passing.
- The bill was successfully passed in the House of Representatives.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. – It seems the efforts for launching a local lottery in Alabama have failed yet again, as lawmakers in the Senate vote against SB 214.
The bill managed to pass in the House of Representatives, but fell just two votes shy of a senate majority.
Should the bill have passed, residents would have been able to vote on bringing a lottery to the Yellowhammer State.
No Lottery For The Yellowhammer
There was optimism in the Alabama gambling market as even Senator Del Marsh, key sponsor of the bill expected the bill to pass.
"I made a rookie mistake," said Marsh. “And I told three or four members in the body after that it was a mistake. The next week, I was asked if I would wait a few days for the enabling legislation. They'd be with me. And that happened, and they didn't vote with me today."
The news sets the legal gambling market in Alabama back to square one. Not only would a lottery have been established, but casino gambling and sports betting were also a part of the bill.
SB 214 was voted 19 yay to 13 nay, while needing 21 votes in favor to qualify for a two-thirds Senate majority.
Now an entirely new bill would need to be presented, amended, and voted on by the House and Senate in order to bring legal gambling to Alabama residents.
Marsh’s bad news doesn’t stop with the bill’s failure to pass either, as the Senator is now dealing with lawsuits surrounding the bill. Marsh has been accused of soliciting bribes and accepting money from Poarch Band of Creek Indians members to push the bill.
With the negative press surrounding the bill, it may be a while before a new gambling bill is presented in Alabama.