2021 Alabama Legislative Session – Plan to Bring Gambling Bills Up for Debate in Senate on April 6, 2021

ALCAP has learned that the Alabama Senate plans to bring one or more lottery bills to the floor for debate tomorrow, Tuesday, April 6, 2021. Please contact your Alabama State Senator TODAY and let him/her know of your opposition to any and all gambling bills. Click here if you know your State Senator’s name. Click on their picture and fill out the form to continue with your message. Click here if you do not know the name of your State Senator. Enter your zip-code. You will be directed to a page where you must scroll down to find your State Legislator.

Along with this urgent request for action, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Glenn Murdock has updated his audio statement on the gambling issue. We included his original audio statement in our email last week, but I would encourage you to listen to this updated version and share it with others. Click here for a transcript of the audio statement that you can read and share with others.

I apologize for overloading you with emails, but the gambling situation is very fluid and changing quickly.

Again, PLEASE COPY AND PASTE THIS EMAIL AND SHARE IT WITH OTHERS IN YOUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND CONTACT YOUR ALABAMA STATE SENATOR TODAY (APRIL 6) OR TOMORROW MORNING (APRIL 7) BEFORE THE SENATE GOES INTO SESSION AT 2:30PM.

The bills that may be considered on the Senate floor include the following:

SB309SB310 and SB311 are the enabling bills associated with Sen. Del Marsh’s original gambling bill (SB214) that was defeated before the Legislature went on Spring Break. These enabling bills were passed out of the Senate Tourism Committee AFTER SB214 failed, which indicates that the Sen. Marsh believes the casinos in his original bill may be included in amendments to the “lottery only” bills.

SB319 and SB320 are the “lottery only” bills introduced by Sen. Jim McClendon. These bills, as stated earlier, may be amended to include casinos before either bill is passed out of both legislative houses.

Even if a “lottery only” bill is ultimately passed without including casinos, the Poarch Creek Indians could use its passage to demand that a compact be signed allowing them to have full-fledged casinos at their current locations and add one or two new casinos in the state.

ACTION ALERT:

  1. I encourage you to listen to and share the updated audio statement by Glenn Murdock with everyone you know.

Contact your Alabama State Senator and strongly encourage him/her to oppose any and all pro-gambling bills. Be courteous, but be adamant that we do NOT want gambling expanded in Alabama! Polling, which legislators keep using to argue for passage of some form of gambling expansion, is skewed. I have talked with individuals who have been polled and the way the questions are worded can result in an interpretation that favors gambling even if the person being polled is not in favor of gambling expansion. Click here if you know your State Senator’s name. Click on their picture and fill out the form to continue with your message. Click here if you do not know the name of your State Senator. Enter your zip-code. You will be directed to a page where you must scroll down to find your State Legislator.