Alabama lottery and casino legislation delayed

Alabama Senator Del Marsh has said he believes the legislation will be ready to move to the Senate in “a couple of weeks”.

US.- A vote on lottery and casino legislation in Alabama has been delayed as its Republican sponsor continues to iron out the final details.

Senator Del Marsh told The Olympian that he planned to work on the legislation and the necessary constitutional amendment to see it through over the next two weeks before seeking a vote in the state senate.

His bill proposes establishing a state lottery in Alabama and granting licences for five casinos.

Four of the casinos would be situated at each of the state’s existing dog tracks while the fifth site would be run by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

However, Marsh has said he now hopes to amend the bill to increase the number of casino licences from five to seven.

Marsh his proposed modification “opens up two more additional congressional districts and therefore two more opportunities for others to come forward and make a presentation to the (gaming) commission and have consideration.”

The senator said recent polling shows that the general public would be open to additional sites although people believe the number should be controlled. He believes 10 casinos is the maximum amount that would be accepted.

He added: “There is an overwhelming appetite for the people to address this issue and vote on it. I do believe we’ll be getting to the floor in a couple of weeks.”

Alabama is one of five states in the US without a lottery. Thousands of its residents cross the state’s borders to buy lottery tickets for high jackpot drawers such as Mega Millions and Powerball.