The sweeping gambling legislation proposed in Alabama is not going to pass without some local resistance — if it passes at all.
Members of the Alabama House of Representatives' economic development and tourism committee met Tuesday and considered the recently proposed House Bills 151 and 152.
The bills lay out a path for the southern state to legalize sports betting and several other forms of gambling.
H.B. 151 proposes an amendment to the Alabama constitution that, if approved by voters, would authorize a state lottery, additional casinos, sports wagering, raffles, and bingo. H.B. 152 provides more detail about Alabama’s proposed gambling expansion, including the potential to license multiple sportsbook operators for in-person and online wagering.
No action was taken on either piece of legislation on Tuesday, but the committee will meet again on Wednesday. Members also heard testimony from 20 witnesses, including a sponsor of the two bills, Republican Rep. Chris Blackshear.
“It's been a quarter of a century since the last time the citizens got to express their opinion on this matter in the state of Alabama,” Blackshear told the committee. “Bill Clinton was president."
Alabama State Treasurer Young Boozer says expanded gaming will work in the state and will be worth it. pic.twitter.com/lrAQB6mWdg
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 13, 2024
Blackshear also noted that updated fiscal projections for the proposed gaming expansion forecast between $935.6 million to $1.214 billion in new revenue annually, $15 million to $41.5 million of which would come from legal sports betting.
But opposition is already forming to the gambling bills. The House committee heard a variety of issues taken with the legislation on Tuesday, including its potential impact on mental health and the existing gaming operations of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized tribe in Alabama.
Alabama Policy Institute CEO Stephanie Smith warned the committee about the power the new gaming commission would have under the legislation to locate casinos.
“That puts every single municipality and every single county at risk for having a casino in their backyard,” Smith said. “It also handpicks winners and losers and only designates an absolutely tiny amount to combating problem gambling.”
To share profit, one first needs profit
Robert McGhee, vice chairman for the Poarch Band, said they have “real concerns” about the legislation. The bills would allow the governor to negotiate a gaming compact with the tribe that could permit the Poarch Band to expand its casino offerings and that would guarantee payments to the state.
McGhee ran out of time before he could dig into the specifics of their concerns. However, the Alabama Political Reporter cited a source on Monday who said the tribe and local racetrack owners are interested in a provision giving them the right to make the last and best bid for the additional casino licenses.
“It's estimated that a compact would bring the state millions of dollars, 300 total as was stated here, but millions of dollars just within the first year,” McGhee told the committee on Tuesday. “But we can only do that massive amount of profit sharing if we are able to actually increase our profits.”
Stop me if you've heard this one...
On the sports betting front, though, Alabama lawmakers are getting a familiar pitch: it’s already happening.
FanDuel President Christian Genetski told the committee that there were two million attempts to wager with legal sportsbooks in Alabama last year but those attempts were blocked, as the state remains one of 12 that has not authorized event wagering. Some of those people then took their betting business to a neighboring state or an offshore site.
“Alabama remains stuck with only illegal and unsafe sports betting websites that operate offshore, untaxed, and without any regulation or oversight,” Genetski said.
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