Alabama may very well allow its citizens to vote on the introduction of a state lottery thanks to significant progress made to a lottery bill. Lawmakers had two hearings on the question of whether or not the state should be the 45th in the US to adopt a lottery, two years after Wyoming became the last state to implement its lottery laws.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Alan Harper, was approved by the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, despite the fact that eight speakers at a public hearing noted their opposition to the idea and only one supported it. This was the first hurdle that the lottery bill cleared in the Alabama Legislature. It now requires the approval of 3/5 of the members of the House and Senate for the lottery question to be put on the ballot in the November 8th, 2016 general election.
Alan Harper said that he believed that most people in the Yellowhammer State wanted to see a change in the Constitution which prohibits lotteries. His bill does not specify how proceeds from a potential lottery would be allocated, however it is expected that the House floor will debate the matter when and if the need arises.
This is not the first time that Alabama is toying with the idea of a state lottery. Fifteen years ago, when the question went to ballot, voters rejected a lottery at a 54 – 46% margin.
As with all matters pertaining to gambling, the idea has already been met with fierce opposition. Opponents claim that introducing a lottery to Alabama would have a detrimental effect on society and the poor would spend their money on lottery tickets instead of essential items such as food. Objections were also based on moral arguments, with some calling the lottery “evil”.
The director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, Dan Ireland said: “The reason you can pay off people who do win is because you have a lot of loses. Gambling is based on losers.”
The recent Powerball jackpot, which climbed to a record $1.6 billion and was claimed by three winners from California, Florida and Tennessee, may impact Alabamans if they go to the ballot on the issue in November. There is no doubt that Powerball hysteria swept across the entire country, even in states where a lottery is not available such as Mississippi, Utah, Hawaii and Alaska and, surprisingly, Nevada.
