Lottery News

It's a much longer wait for the Alabama residents to have their state lottery, as the 2021 legislative session ended before lawmakers could agree on the particulars of the presented gaming bill.

The legislators seem to agree on enacting the establishment of a state lottery for a number of reasons, which include tightening up unregulated gambling and finding new sources of funding for the public programs. However, the lawmakers could not reach an agreement keeping in mind the specifics, casino locations, and where and how the funding would be allocated.

To cover the larger gaming interests in the state, the lottery bill also came out with the topic of casinos. But things didn't work out well for the residents of Alabama as the bill passed in the Senate, died in the House. There were a number of Republicans who absolutely resisted the introduction of the gambling bill.

According to Coleman a big part of the disagreement came from the proposed quantity and locations of casinos, as well as the involvement of minority participation for contractors in gaming. Over the past week, there have been a number of meetings to reach a compromise and enforce the bill to law, but to no avail.

Although the legislative session has concluded for the year, Coleman, the Representative remarked that she would like to have a special session dedicated just to the lottery and gaming discussion in Alabama.