Sunday, April 01, 2007

A favorite hot button issue - gambling - is back on the table in the Alabama
Legislature. Bills introduced in the Alabama Legislature Thursday would
legalize video bingo games for high stakes at greyhound racetracks in
Birmingham and Mobile. Under the proposal, 20 percent of revenue from the
games would go to the state and be earmarked to fund Medicaid. Lawmakers in
recent years have struggled to keep up with the rising cost of the health
care program for low income and elderly residents. The electronic bingo
machines are currently legal at greyhound tracks in Macon and Greene County
because of local laws. The bill would outlaw another kind of gambling
machine, called "sweepstakes games," which have been popping up across the
state. The bills are sponsored by Rep. Marcel Black, D-Tuscumbia, and Sen.
Pat Lindsey, D-Butler. Black said the bill would control gambling by getting
rid of the sweepstakes machines. "There are thousands of untaxed,
unregulated electronic sweepstakes machines operating around the state,"
Black said. He said operators of the games have found loopholes in state law
to keep operating. "My proposal will make it clear, once and for all, that
video sweepstakes machines are illegal in Alabama," Black said. Gambling
opponents in the Legislature said they were studying the proposal, but said
they do not like the idea of allowing the bingo machines in Mobile and
Birmingham. "It's just not where we need to go," said Rep. Gerald Allen,
R-Tuscaloosa. Another gambling opponent, House Minority Leader Rep. Mike
Hubbard, R-Auburn, said he might be willing to consider the bill if it will
get rid of the sweepstakes machines. "I'm all for making all gambling
illegal," Hubbard said. But he said a priority needs to be to do away with
the sweepstakes machines, which he said mostly operate without paying taxes.
Similar bills have been met with opposition in the past, but House Speaker
Seth Hammett said the prospect of getting rid of the sweepstakes machines
may make the legislation easier to pass this session.