Current:Home > MyAlabama lawmakers adjourn session without final gambling vote-LoTradeCoin
Alabama lawmakers adjourn session without final gambling vote
View Date:2024-12-23 23:37:18
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Alabama lawmakers ended the legislative session Thursday without approving a lottery, slot machines and video poker machines, continuing a 25-year stalemate on the issue of gambling.
Supporters were unable to break an impasse in the Alabama Senate after the measure failed by one vote earlier in the session. The Senate did not take the bill up again on the session’s final day, ending hopes of getting the issue before voters later this year.
“There was a lot of effort to try to make it work. I think the people want a chance to vote. I hear that everywhere I go,” Republican House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter said. The House had approved the bill.
Alabamians last voted on the issue of gambling in 1999, when voters rejected a lottery proposed by then-Gov. Don Siegelman. There have been multiple efforts since then for lottery bills, but the measures stalled amid debate over casinos and electronic gambling machines.
Republican Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed said senators had approved a scaled-down bill that included a lottery and allowing dog tracks and other sites to have machines where players bet on replays of horse races. Senators were less receptive to proposals that included slot machines or video poker.
“It was something that there weren’t votes in the Senate to approve,” Reed said of the conference committee proposal. “So that’s where we are.”
The House had approved a sweeping bill that would have allowed a lottery, sports betting and up to 10 casinos with slot machines and table games. The state Senate scaled back the legislation. A conference committee proposed a compromise that would have authorized a lottery as well as slot machines at seven locations in the state. Representatives approved the measure, but it did not win approval in the Senate.
The House spent part of the day in a slow-down to allow last-minute discussions to see if something could win approval. Ledbetter said when it became clear that wasn’t going to happen “it was time to move on.”
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, who expressed support for the bill in her State of the State address, told reporters that she was disappointed in the outcome.
“I wanted people to have a chance to vote on the issue.” the Republican governor said.
Asked if she would call a special session on the subject, Ivey suggested it would be pointless unless lawmakers can reach an agreement.
During debate on state budgets, members of the House took parting verbal shots at the Alabama Senate and opponents of the bill.
Republican Rep. Chris Blackshear, the sponsor of the legislation, said gambling would have provided more money for education, roads, and other needs.
“We had it as close as it’s been before. We had a chance,” Blackshear said of their effort.
Democratic Rep. Barbara Drummond said lottery tickets purchased by Alabamians in neighboring states are paying to help educate children there, while Alabama children receive no benefits.
“I’m frustrated today,” Drummond said. “The House stood up like it should, but it hit a wall upstairs. It’s time we stop playing these games of special interest and look out for the people who send us here.”
veryGood! (2)
Related
- Wicked Director Jon M. Chu Reveals Name of Baby Daughter After Missing Film's LA Premiere for Her Birth
- How to behave on an airplane during the beast of summer travel
- Mother of 6-year-old boy who shot his Virginia teacher faces two new federal charges
- 4 dead in Cessna Citation plane crash near D.C. Here's what we know so far.
- Why was Jalen Ramsey traded? Dolphins CB facing former team on 'Monday Night Football'
- New 988 mental health crisis line sees jump in calls and texts during first month
- Shaquil Barrett’s Wife Jordanna Pens Heartbreaking Message After Daughter’s Drowning Death
- New 988 mental health crisis line sees jump in calls and texts during first month
- Britney Spears reunites with son Jayden, 18, after kids moved in with dad Kevin Federline
- How a new hard hat technology can protect workers better from concussion
Ranking
- New York races to revive Manhattan tolls intended to fight traffic before Trump can block them
- Shaquil Barrett’s Wife Jordanna Pens Heartbreaking Message After Daughter’s Drowning Death
- Peabody Settlement Shows Muscle of Law Now Aimed at Exxon
- 4 dead in Cessna Citation plane crash near D.C. Here's what we know so far.
- Digital Finance Research Institute Introduce
- Trump Takes Ax to Science and Other Advisory Committees, Sparking Backlash
- The Most Accurate Climate Models Predict Greater Warming, Study Shows
- How ESG investing got tangled up in America's culture wars
Recommendation
-
Kendall Jenner Is Back to Being a Brunette After Ditching Blonde Hair
-
58 Cheap Things to Make Your Home Look Expensive
-
In Alaska’s Thawing Permafrost, Humanity’s ‘Library Is on Fire’
-
Dave Ramsey faces $150 million lawsuit for promoting company accused of fraud
-
Just Eat Takeaway sells Grubhub for $650 million, just 3 years after buying the app for $7.3 billion
-
Portland police deny online rumors linking six deaths to serial killer
-
4 ways to make your workout actually fun, according to behavioral scientists
-
This Mexican clinic is offering discreet abortions to Americans just over the border