The vote on the Alabama gambling bill that could provide an end to the debate may not take place after all.
"There's still one day left so they could bring it up tomorrow, but right now it looks like there are more votes against this gambling bill than there are for it," Gov. Bob Riley said in a press release yesterday.
The governor's office claims the vote on the bill was delayed for the last week because the bill's supporters were trying to garner support to pass it.
"Basically, they've said that they're going to delay it as long as possible to convince people who are committed to vote no to vote yes," said Todd Stacy, governor's office press secretary.
Sen. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, sponsor of the senate bill, said supporters of the bill want to make sure the Legislature knows what it contains.
"It's a concise bill that would establish one of the highest tax rates in the nation--25 percent of the gross as a minimum," Bedford said. "(The tax rate) is three times higher than New Jersey, three times higher than Nevada and more than twice as high as Mississippi."
Bedford said the bill would also establish the toughest gaming commission in the nation.
"The gaming commission would have subpoena powers, it would be subject to the ethics laws of Alabama, the people appointed to it could not be an elected official, and they could not be associated in any way with the gaming industry either five years before they got appointed or five years after they went off," Bedford said.
Bedford said the taxes on gambling proposed in the bill would go to education, Medicaid and senior service programs.
Stacy said the bill would not provide citizens the opportunity to vote on gambling as the supporters of the bill have claimed.
"If it passed and it went to a vote, and let's say the people overwhelmingly rejected it by voting no--nothing changes," Stacy said. "There's nothing in this bill that says casinos have to close down, but if people vote yes, it's pretty much unmitigated, unfettered expansion of gambling."
Bedford rejected claims that if people voted against gaming in Alabama, nothing would change.
"There's about a dozen cases before the Alabama Supreme Court," Bedford said. "Any one of those cases could shut down all non-Native American gambling. And, in my opinion, as political as this is, if it's voted down by the people, the Supreme Court will follow the will of the people and shut it down."
If passed, citizens will vote on the bill Nov. 2, and the next Legislature would set up the gaming commission, Bedford said.
"This is not about gambling," Stacy said. "This is not about putting money in a slot machine or building a casino. This is about the corruption that comes with organized gambling and about keeping that kind of corruption out of our state."
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