Gambling goes down in flames in this session

April 3, 2025 - MONTGOMERY, AL - You can never really be certain what the Alabama Legislature will do from one session to another. One thing that is always certain is that a dubious gambling bill creating a lottery and expanding the business of certain casinos will come up in the session and that eventually that piece of legislation will die at some point in the session. On Thursday it all happened within hours of each other.

Alabama State Senator Greg Albritton (R-Range) released a public statement this week detailing his efforts to craft legislation that would have the support of 21 of Alabama's Senators. A bill did pass the Senate in 2024; but the House of Representatives (who were miffed that it was not their bill) rejected it and sent it to a conference committee, only to have the conference committee version of the bill fall one vote short in the Senate.

"One thing that we have in this bill is an enforcement arm that's going to be significant," Sen. Albritton told WSFA TV News in Montgomery. "We're going to eliminate those confusing laws that we have currently, increase the penalties and put a strong enforcement there so that people that have the expertise and the resources, they can go out and shut down all the illegals. We don't have that now, and the bill that we had on the floor last year did not have the capability of doing that. That's why I killed it."

Albritton's legislation includes a lottery, sports betting, and electronic bingo at the six existing facilities in Alabama. His bill would not add any new facilities. He claimed that his gambling bill would generate between $550 and $900 million in new state revenues.

On Thursday Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger (R - Cullman) released his own statement announcing that gambling legislation was not going to crash this session like it had crashed the 2024 session. Former Senator Greg Reed (R-Jasper) was the Pro-Tem then.

"With 12 meeting days remaining in the session, both budgets still awaiting approval, and other important bills and measures demanding focus and attention, the comprehensive gaming bill released today is simply too little, too late, and has too few votes to pass," Gudger said effectively killing the bill as he has tremendous powers over what legislation the Senate brings to the floor.

Gudger did hold out hope that gambling still could pass in another year - likely after the 2026 election.

"I believe that passing a comprehensive gaming bill in the Senate will require engaging in long-term and intense negotiations among members and securing the needed votes and commitments well before a legislative session even begins," said Gudger.

Albritton carried last year's bill in the Senate; but dramatically voted "No" on the version of the bill that came out of the conference committee - even though he had supported it coming out of conference committee in that very same form.

Comprehensive gambling legislation - if passed by both Houses of the legislature - would still have to pass a vote of the people of Alabama where it would likely face a buzzsaw of opposition.