Alabama to end session without casino and lottery legislation

The legislative session in Alabama is soon to end without lawmakers passing legislation to allow a lottery and casino gambling in the state.

US.- As May comes to an end, so does the Alabama legislative session, and it appears lawmakers will not agree on a lottery and casino bill in time.

The Legislature has prioritised other topics such as bills related to medical marijuana and alcohol deliveries, but couldn’t reach a consensus on gambling regulation.

A lottery bill was introduced in this session, including language on casino legalisation. However, despite passing the Senate, it stalled in the House due to lack of support.

Another session was held yesterday (Monday) but the bill again failed to pass. The Democratic Caucus said it wanted three changes before it would back the proposed legislation.

Rep. Merika Coleman said: “The Democratic Caucus in conjunction with the Black Caucus of course wanted a designated funding for Medicaid.

“That was one of the asks on the list. In addition to the locations and making sure we are not the entity picking winners and losers.”

Republican Rep. Kyle South said the request for money for Medicaid was an issue as there were “disagreements on how that could be worded.”

He said: “I’m just as frustrated as they are because I do want to see us get to a point where we’re leaving money on the table. There’s gaming already in the state of Alabama. It’s totally unregulated, untaxed and a lot of this is to control gaming. “