State Sen. Greg Albritton has introduced a new pair of gambling and lottery bills in the Alabama Legislature, reviving a long-running push to bring a statewide vote on casinos, sports betting and an education lottery before Alabama voters.
The Escambia County Republican, whose District 22 seat stretches across a swath of south Alabama, unveiled the legislation at a State House press conference, describing it as the latest version of a comprehensive gaming package that stalled in the House of Representatives during last year’s session. The proposal would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment creating a new Alabama Education Lottery Commission with authority to regulate a limited expansion of gambling statewide.
Under the plan, the amendment would establish the Alabama Education Lottery alongside casino-style games, sports betting, bingo and raffles, all placed under the oversight of the new commission. Licensed casinos would be capped at five locations across the state, a list that includes the Mobile Greyhound Track in Mobile County. The legislation would also pave the way for a compact between the state and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians that could expand gaming on tribal land.
The bills call for a 20 percent tax on net revenues generated by casinos and sports betting, with a portion of that money directed to cities and counties for capital projects. Money raised through the lottery would fund new scholarships intended to help Alabama residents pursue postsecondary education or training tied to the state’s workforce needs.
Because the proposal requires a change to the state constitution, it would have to go before voters in a statewide referendum. Under Albritton’s bills, casinos, sports betting and the lottery would all appear as a single combined question on the ballot rather than as separate items voters could weigh individually.
Albritton framed the legislation as an attempt to bring order to an industry he said already operates widely in Alabama without meaningful state oversight. He pointed to existing gambling operations in Greene and Jefferson counties, along with online sports betting, as evidence that gaming is already common across the state even without a regulatory framework in place.
“This is an industry that needs to be regulated by the state, this is an industry that is running rampant in the state,” Albritton said. “Alabama has no control over any of these activities or benefits from these activities yet we’re suffering the consequences of it.”
Albritton noted that roughly 20 separate local constitutional amendments currently govern the state’s scattered gambling operations, a patchwork he argued provides little consistency or accountability. He said his legislation would instead create a single statewide commission empowered to regulate, cap and tax existing gaming entities immediately, without waiting for voters to weigh in. Because the commission’s regulatory authority would be established separately from the ballot referendum itself, Albritton said it could begin collecting tax revenue from existing gambling operations as soon as the underlying law takes effect.
Albritton did not offer a specific revenue estimate for his current proposal, but he referenced a 2020 report from Gov. Kay Ivey’s Study Group on Gambling Policy, which projected that a broader expansion of gaming statewide could generate between $300 million and $400 million a year, with a state lottery adding another $200 million to $300 million annually. Albritton said Friday that combined, the figures could add up to as much as $800 million a year in new state revenue.
Passage of the bills will require a three-fifths supermajority in both the House and Senate, meaning the legislation will need bipartisan support to clear the Legislature. While statewide polling has generally shown broad public support for expanded gambling in Alabama, the issue has proven difficult to resolve legislatively for nearly two decades, with competing interests among existing gaming operators, anti-gambling groups and lawmakers representing different regions of the state repeatedly derailing past efforts.
Albritton acknowledged the legislation is likely to face amendments and opposition as it moves through the process this session.
“There’s going to be controversies and challenges involved with this,” he said. “There are enemies against this plan. I suggest we will have amendments to this both in committee and on the floor, and the House will do the same. But I believe we have a product and a vehicle — and we’ve done this enough times — that we can put a package together that will benefit the state.”
If approved by the Legislature, the constitutional amendment would then go before Alabama voters for final approval before any new lottery, casino licensing or sports betting framework could take effect.