Legal, regulated gambling in Alabama moved a step closer on Friday with the passage of enabling legislation through Alabama’s House of Representatives by a 70-32 vote.

A total of 42 Republican representatives voted yes, with 32 voting no, while all 28 Alabama House Democrats voted in favor of the first of two related gambling bills. 

HB 151 allows Alabama voters to decide in November if they should amend the state’s constitution to allow different forms of gambling. 

Alabama is currently one of the few US states without a lottery, online gambling or sports betting in any form. Gambling in the Cotton State is confined to just three tribal casinos and one bingo hall.

This latest legislation would create a state lottery, allow both in-person and online sports betting and authorize up to seven new land-based casinos with table games and slot machines.

A second bill, HB 152, which sets out the regulatory framework for how lottery and casinos would operate, passed by a vote of 67-31. These bills passed in the House remarkably swiftly, just one week after they were introduced. 

Both bills now move on to the Senate for review and potential amendment. 

A similar effort to expand gambling passed the Senate in 2021, but was not put to a vote in the House before the session ended.

Support from the Governor

Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has said she will sign the bills if they make it to her desk, and she seems vested in trying to help them get there. She lauded Friday’s vote as a win for the state. 

“The people of Alabama deserve to have another say on gaming,” Ivey said in a press statement, “and today’s passage of HB151 and HB152 in the House is an important step forward and very significant, as this has not been accomplished by the House in years.”

Ivey was referring to an attempt to legalize lottery in Alabama in a plan proposed by then Governor Don Siegelman in 1999, an initiative that passed through the legislature but was ultimately rejected by voters at the polls.

“The proposal passed by the House will clean up and crack down on the rampant illegal gambling and will give Alabamians the opportunity to have their say on regulated, limited forms of gaming,” Ivey said. “I will remain engaged as this legislation moves to the Senate.” 

Creating New Regulatory Frameworks

This legislation would see the creation of an Alabama Gaming Commission (AGC), which would be empowered to license and regulate casinos and sports betting in the state. 

The legislation allows the AGC to issue licenses for up to seven casinos in the state. Six licenses would be reserved for a casino in Jefferson, Greene, Macon, Mobile, Lowndes and Houston counties. 

A further negotiated compact between the state and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which operate three existing casinos, would allow for a tenth casino property on tribal lands near the Georgia state line.

This bill also would establish the Alabama Lottery Corporation, to oversee the state’s lottery offerings, including instant-win games and any potential multistate lottery jackpots.

The corporation would develop and maintain a statewide network of lottery retailers that would sell lottery tickets, which would be restricted to those aged 18 or over.

Money for Education and Law Enforcement

Casino-style gaming would be taxed at a rate of 24%, while sports betting would be taxed at a rate of 17%. 

Taxation revenues generated from authorized gambling would be allocated on a by-vertical basis, with lottery revenue allocated to statewide educational coffers, and casino and sports betting revenue being allocated to support law enforcement causes.

The bills’ sponsor, Republican Rep. Chris Blackshear told a House committee last week that legalized gambling, sports betting and lottery could provide more than $936 million in annual tax revenue to the state.

Two of Alabama’s neighboring states, Florida and Mississippi, offer legal and regulated casino gambling. Two others, Georgia and Tennessee, do not.

Image: Chad Robertson / Alamy