New lottery-only bill proposed in Alabama

The new bill would create a regulatory entity and pave the way for multi-state games like Mega Millions and Powerball in addition to a state lottery. 

US.- While a bill seeking to legalise casinos and lottery was rejected by the Alabama Senate last week, a lawmaker has stepped in with a new bill that proposes the legalisation of lottery alone.

Senator Del Marsh’s gambling expansion bill was rejected by 19-13 in the Senate. The bill needed at least 21 votes to pass.

Now Senator Jim McClendon has put forward a new bill that drops casino gambling but sticks with the aim to implement a statewide lottery.

Speaking on FM Talk 106.5, McClendon said: ” All it does is it creates a lottery for Alabama, just like every state around us has. We may be up to 46 states now – I’m not sure, I kind of lost count – that have lotteries, and we’re the oddball. So, I’ve come with a lottery proposal, and we’ll see what happens with that.”

His proposal would set up a lottery commission to oversee multi-state games like Mega Millions and Powerball in addition a new state lottery. The senator has suggested dividing the revenue raised between the state’s Education Trust Fund and the General Fund.

According to McClendon, Alabama citizens are more concerned about legalising lottery than casinos.

He said: “One thing they never ask about and say, ‘I wish we had a casino.’ They don’t say that. What they say to me is, ‘I wish I could buy a lottery ticket without going to Georgia.'”

Thousands of Alabama residents cross the state’s borders to buy lottery tickets on multi-state games such as Mega Millions and Powerball.