Alabama Slots Bill Fails – For Now
The bill to allow 10 Class II slot parlors failed Wednesday on an 18-16 vote, leaving it three shy of the 60 percent necessary to pass a constitutional amendment onto the next step, a statewide referendum.
That calls into question the future of the state’s shuttered slots casinos, and their value to slot companies, variously estimated at 3-4 cents a share in earnings to IGT and 7-8 cents to Bally and Multimedia Games.
However, as in legislative and legal battles, the effort on behalf of slots isn’t over.
Macon County District Attorney Paul Jones believes the video bingo machines are legal and will ask for court reli9ef, AP reported.
And Ronnie Gilley, who owns Country Crossing, one of the closed slot casinos, said proponents will come back with a simpler bill.
One legislator planning to introduce a new bill is Sen. Paul Sanford. He intends to propose slot machines, saying that it is a more direct way of dealing with the issue than continuing the debate and guise of Class II slots as a form of bingo.
He also would tax machines at 50 percent compared to the 27 percent in the defeated Sweet Home Alabama proposal.
The defeat went along party lines with most Democrats for slots and most Republicans supporting anti-gaming Gov. Bob Riley. However, Sanford is a Republican. His party affiliation and much higher tax rate could have some effect.
Meanwhile, it was speculated that some senators voted against Sweet Home Alabama not so much because they are against slots but because the bill left out their counties as eligible for casinos.
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