Alabama gambling bill defeated in less than 24 hours
An Alabama bill to legalize online sports betting and a state lottery has been defeated just days after being introduced.
HB 490 was introduced by Sen. Greg Albritton at the start of the second half of the Alabama legislative session, which began on 2 April. However, later the same day the Senate President Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger announced the bill didn’t have enough support.
He said, “With 12 meeting days remaining in the session, both budgets still awaiting approval, and other important bills and measures demanding focus and attention, the comprehensive gaming bill released today is simply too little, too late, and has too few votes to pass.”
The bill would have introduced online and retail sports betting to Alabama operated by already licensed gambling operations. Those locations would also have been approved to operate class II electronic gambling.
Albritton also wanted the government to sign gaming compacts with the local Poarch Creek tribe to expand gambling options at those properties and create a state lottery with HB 490.
HB 940 proposed creating the Alabama Gaming Commission to regulate and tax all of the new types of gambling it introduced.
According to AL.com, commenting on the bill’s failure Albritton said, “We’ve been struggling with this for 25-26 years already … I don’t see anything changing.”
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