The chair of the powerful Alabama House Rules Committee last week said legislators would look at gambling, charter and voucher programs and the labor shortage in the legislative session scheduled to begin in February.
Rep. Joe Lovvorn, R-Auburn, the chair of the House Rules Committee, told county commissioners and directors at the Association of County Commissions of Alabama conference in Auburn on Wednesday that the state lacked a uniform approach to gambling.
“Anybody had any conversations or thoughts on gambling — we all do,” he said. “Each of your counties have different aspects. Every county in the state has different thoughts of what is legal and what is illegal.”
Both lotteries and games of chance are forbidden by the Alabama constitution. Local amendments allowed for electronic bingo, but the Alabama Supreme Court has read those amendments in narrow ways, making much if not all of the gambling in the state illegal.
The state constitution does not affect the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, a federally recognized tribe that operates casinos in Atmore, Montgomery and Wetumpka.