With little time left in the 2024 legislative session, a proposed comprehensive gambling package is still on the table per one recent report. A lottery and gambling constitutional amendment that passed the House but fell one vote short in the Senate could come up for a vote again. Per sources, with the legislation still looming, Donald Trump Jr. recently jumped into the fray and asked why the Alabama Senate was refusing to pass what he deemed a “clean bill.” During an interview with Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Glenn Murdock pushed back on the notion of the lottery bill being “clean.”
In this report, SBS will be going over the latest news and information coming from the state along with some other updated notes about Alabama and beyond.
Noted in the article, the former Alabama Supreme Court Justice is not so sure this is the right gaming bill. “Given your dynamics in Alabama, I don’t know if it’s possible to have a clean lottery bill, but I can say this for sure: This is not it,” Murdock argued. “This bill will definitely expand gaming in Alabama.”
He would go on to be quoted in the article, “It almost reminds me of the border issue where President Biden says, you know, we’ve got a border crisis, and we’ve got to fix the border and to do that, we’re going to legalize some immigration.” Murdock said. “We’re going to legalize some asylum, instead of just clamping down on what the problem is. And so this bill does legalize gaming that we don’t have in Alabama right now.”
According to Murdock in the article, the legislation “basically creates full-fledged Vegas casinos” across Alabama at sites that have “defied Alabama law the longest” and rewards them for doing so.
Per the same report, Murdock would further expand on his points in the article. “Let me tell you what this constitutional amendment specifically expressly does that we don’t have now in Alabama. It takes the three Poarch Creek sites in Atmore, Wetumpka, and Montgomery, which are now only slot machine operations. Electronic bingo is the name of them, but they’re really just slot machines,” Murdock said. “You put your money in and you find out in a few seconds whether you have won your game of bingo… It mandates the governor to give them a contract that under federal Indian gaming law allows them to do full-fledged Vegas casinos: table games, dice games, roulette tables, and a sportsbook operation inside their facilities. Anything that is at Caesars in Vegas is going to be in these three sites.”
Murdock continued in the article, “The other thing it expressly does is it picks some winners and losers, and it gives a monopoly basically to seven other sites and basically creates full-fledged Vegas casinos in seven other sites spread around Alabama,” the former Supreme Court Justice said. “Because it says these other seven sites, and by the way, it’s picking the electronic slot machine operations that have been in business the longest and who have defied Alabama law the longest. (Thus) rewarding them with this law that says those seven sites, in particular, can now have electronic games of chance, but it doesn’t define or limit electronic games of chance.”
Per the same report, Murdock went on to say the gambling interests would “absolutely control our state politics” and even “supplant” the Business Council of Alabama. “So this bill explicitly creates 10 Vegas-style, full array of Vegas game casinos spread all over the state with all of the bad things and ill effects that come with putting casinos in a place like Alabama,” he added.
As of this article’s writing, Alabama currently has three Indian gaming casinos. Each casino is owned by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama, which is the only federally-recognized tribe in the state. The Poarch Indians casinos are managed under the tribe’s Wind Creek Hospitality company. Moreover, Alabama gaming laws are fairly restrictive and limit betting to greyhound dog racing and (if voted on through a local referendum) horse racing as well, per another article. However, casino-style gaming, such as roulette, poker, craps, or slot machines, are prohibited in the state. Of course, things could certainly change with this new gaming bill which would shake things up quite a bit in Alabama, should the new bill get passed this legislative session.
After you are all squared away regarding the latest information coming from Alabama, make sure to check out the awesome array of information available to you only at SBS. If you are interested in more updates from the Cotton State, make sure to peruse the sports betting in Alabama guide which goes over all of the latest updates coming from there. Conversely, if you are interested in diversifying your payment options, look no further than the payment methods breakdown which covers a variety of deposit and withdrawal options. This includes options from cryptocurrencies to more traditional banking routes and outlets. Finally, if you are interested in some higher stakes wagering, look no further than the VIP sports betting sites rundown which goes over a variety of great information and can help you see if VIP betting is for you.
About the Author
As a devout aficionado of sports, Chris Boline has carved a career within the athletic realm. A skilled scribe, he boasts a decade-long portfolio that encompasses coverage of the NBA G League, the Los Angeles Chargers, football and basketball across the country. Beyond his professional pursuits, Chris is deeply invested in his community and dedicates his leisure hours to serving on boards, collaborating with community organizations, and cherishing the company of loved ones. CURRENTLY Business Development and freelance sports writing RESIDES IN Reno, NV EDUCATION University of Nevada BS and MBA EXPERTISE -Sports writing proficiency in: NFL, NBA, UFC, boxing, golf, and some motor sports -Topical news -Promotional and marketing ideas/updates -Business development Summary Chris Boline serves in a business development sales capacity as his day job. He has previously held sales/marketing positions with The Applied Companies (TAC), KTVN 2 News and the NBA G League’s Reno Bighorns, affiliate of the Sacramento Kings. He is a Reno native and is a member of various community boards including the Nevada Sagebrush Alumni Chapter, NCET and the College of Business Alumni Association (COBAA). Chris graduated from the University of Nevada in 2015 with a bachelors in management and economics and also earned his MBA from Nevada in 2023. More about Chris: Past president of the College of Business Alumni Association (COBAA) 2022-23 Two-time honoree for University of Nevada Alumni Chapter of the Year (Nevada Sagebrush Alumni Chapter, 2017 & COBAA, 2021) 2021 NCET award for Professional Services Organization of the Year with TAC Northern Nevada Human Resources Association 2020 Best Places to Work-Northern Nevada, Second Place with TAC 2016-17 Reno Bighorns MVP from the Sacramento Kings The Nevada Sagebrush editor-in-chief 2013-15 Associated Collegiate Press 2015 Four-year Non-daily Newspaper Pacemaker honoree University of Nevada, Reno College of Business Dean's List honoree (5x) from 2011-2015 Nevada Press Association award for Best Sports Column – Community in 2015 Education
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