State Sen. Arthur Orr is calling on his colleagues to revisit a statewide lottery proposal during the remaining weeks of the 2025 legislative session – without tying it to a larger gambling expansion.

But he reports that is unlikely to be the case.

“Well, I know a gaming bill is being worked on, and votes are being solicited for a comprehensive gaming bill,” Orr (R-Decatur) said in an interview with Alabama Politics This Week. “And whether the votes are there or not – I don’t think so today – Speaker Ledbetter has said if anything originates, they did most of the work in the House last year, it’s going to have to originate in the Senate.”

“But that bill is being worked among the members.”

After the collapse of the 2024 House-led gambling proposal, little has been discussed publicly about the Senate’s potential to drive the effort in 2025. Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger (R-Cullman) has said previously the Senate will only vote on a gaming measure if the votes are there.

In the interview, Orr expounded on his belief that lawmakers should focus squarely on a statewide lottery in order to isolate, debate and deal with additional forms of gaming.

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“I think what the legislature needs to do, quite frankly, is give the people what they want. And from what I hear, that is a vote on a lottery – up or down – a paper lottery, and allow that to go forward. But still, I’m being too simplistic,” Orr said.

“For a simple lottery bill without all the attachments that people want to attach to it… The lottery is the train engine that pulls all the other cars behind it. And on those other cars are table games, maybe sports betting, maybe internet gaming, those kinds of things – they may not get across the finish line unless they have the lottery pulling them.”

“We ought to start with the lottery and then let each subsequent component stand on its own,” Orr said.