The Alabama State Senator Del Marsh has dismissed the idea that the state will introduce a lottery bill in its latest congressional session.
According to YellowHammer News, the Senator has no plans to offer a gambling proposal to the state despite interest in gambling increasing in recent times.
Marsh appeared on APTV’s ‘Capitol Journal’ and told the programme there were no plans to propose a lottery bill following previous failures this year.
“I think the lottery issue is one that is popular with the people,” Marsh said.
“I think it is one people want to address and have an ability to vote on it. I’ve seen the polling numbers on that. It’s heavy across the lines for the Democrats, Republicans, men, women. I’m a little surprised, quite honestly, that the bills the Senate has passed in the past has not reached the House for a vote. I don’t plan on bringing one next session.”
Back in May, proponents of new lottery and casino legislation in Alabama failed to gather enough support in the House of Representatives.
The failure led to finger-pointing over who was responsible and an unsuccessful effort by Republicans to switch the bill for a GOP-backed lottery proposal after a day of negotiations.
Despite this, there were hopes that lawmakers could pass a bill during the 2022 regular session, which starts in January.
Whilst lottery plans appeared to have been shelved, Marsh did not rule out the possibility of gaming legislature being brought to the House of Representatives in the future.
“It’s always possible,” he added. “I haven’t heard of anything, but something could easily come up in the House or the Senate. It’s not out of the question.”