Senator Sam Givhan doesn’t see the bill gaining significant traction this year
Despite assumptions about the measure in the House to pass sweeping gambling legislation, Alabama Senator Sam Givhan still sees it as unlikely to pass in 2024. However, Givhan says he can’t see where the required 21 out of 35 “yes” votes in the State Senate will come from to put the initiative on the ballot for citizens to decide in an election.
The Madison County Republican Senator spoke to “The Dale Jackson Show” on WVNN in Huntsville on Thursday and reiterated that the number of pro-gambling advocates was not “anywhere close.” The bill would need a three-fifths majority vote in both chambers of the Alabama Legislature to begin the amendment process to terminate the ban on gambling in the 1901 Alabama Constitution.
“It’s not just the ‘not in my backyard,'” said Givhan. “It’s a question of how much fight do you put up to stop it. And I’m not swinging my saber around and rattling it about because I don’t think they’re anywhere close to 20 senators, and it takes 21, and don’t think there is anywhere close to 20 senators to vote for it.”
Local amendments to allow bingo have been approved in some Alabama counties, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians operates several casinos in the state. Gambling bills have historically failed in the House of Representatives, and no statewide vote to amend the constitution has been held since 1999.
The latest proposal has also had opposition from many lawmakers and powerful conservative lobbying groups like the Alabama Policy Institute and the Alabama Farmers Federation.
