Alabama gambling expansion could be considered in Special Session, but appears unlikely to pass

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Governor Robert Bentley (R) promised months ago that he would call as many Special Sessions as it takes for lawmakers to craft a budget he finds suitable, but the governor maintains that it should be tax increases, not gambling or cuts, that balance the General Fund when he calls legislators back to Goat Hill later this summer.

To call a Special Session, the governor must issue a resolution that includes specific issues to be considered by the legislature. But the legislature does have the ability to consider topics other than those listed by the governor. However, those bills would have to garner a two-thirds vote—that is, unless the legislation happens to be a proposed constitutional amendment. In that case, they will only need a three-fifths vote, as they do during any Regular Session.

So while the lottery and other gambling proposals that would require a constitutional amendment might not have made it out of the State Legislature this Spring, they may have another chance in August, when the governor is expected to recall lawmakers for a Special Session.

Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston) said he and his caucus remain staunchly opposed to raising taxes.

“I don’t see the sentiment of this body changing,” Marsh said. But he is optimistic that a gambling expansion could be part of the budget solution.

“I’m not a gamer,” he said during a press conference announcing his gambling proposal earlier this year. “I don’t game. But I think it’s time we let the people make a decision so that people who want to do this can do it and leave those revenues in the State of Alabama.”

Marsh was not able to garner enough support among his colleagues to bring his bill up for a vote during the Regular Session, making the prospect of rounding up enough votes to get a three-fifths majority in the Special Session unlikely.

A large bloc of conservative senators and a growing group of House members have already publicly vowed to stand in the way of any proposed tax increase. Considering they will all have to face voters again in a few short years, it is hard to imagine them changing directions.

None of the governor’s eight tax increase proposals ever saw a vote in either house of the legislature, but they will at least be required to be considered in a special session.

The governor said earlier in the year that he wants his proposed $541 million tax increase, even if the legislature has “to have ten special sessions” to get it done.

Whether or not that will happen remains to be seen as many lawmakers hope the next two months of negotiations yield a solution.