Is the Alabama Legislature ready to allow Alabama voters another opportunity to vote on a lottery bill? I wouldn't count on it but the timing seems right and I like the concept State Sen. Jim McClendon is proposing a bill that would split the lottery proceeds between the Education Trust Fund and the General Fund.
Currently Alabama is one of six states that do not have a lottery. It will soon become one of five states that don't have a lottery because the Mississippi Legislature has already paved the way for a lottery there.
I bring this up now as Alabamians were flocking like birds this week to our neighboring states of Tennessee, Georgia and Florida to purchase a chance on Wednesday night's $750 million Powerball drawing. All you have to do is drive to Century to see the crowds. If nobody won the Powerball last night, the jackpot will get close to $1 billion for Saturday's drawing. The $750 million is the fourth largest jackpot in U.S. history.
I'm not going to speculate how much a lottery would bring to the state of Alabama but since 1988 the Florida Lottery has pumped more than $34 billion into its education budget.
Alabama currently gets some lottery money from our neighboring states in the taxes it collects from winners who cross the state line. I would assume that in addition to the net revenue earned by a lottery, Alabama would also get tax money from lottery winners. Florida and Tennessee don't collect state taxes on lottery tickets but Georgia collects 6 percent.
If Alabama had a lottery and participated along with the 44 other states in the Powerball and the winning ticket was sold in Alabama and the state collected a 6 percent tax, that would be about $45 million into the state coffers.
Former Gov. Don Siegelman helped push an education lottery bill through the Legislature in 1999 but the voters rejected it at the ballot box. I had endorsed the concept of Siegelman's lottery bill but ended up voting against it because the bill passed by the Legislature left too many unanswered questions about who was going to run the lottery and exactly where the money was going.
It seems like every year since the 1999 defeat a lottery bill has been introduced in Alabama, but none have passed the Legislature to give us a right to vote.
I like the concept of Sen. McClendon's bill but I'll wait to make a decision when I get to read the final bill. I like the idea of splitting the profits between education and the General Fund. I would probably vote against any lottery bill that earmarked all the money to education or to the General Fund.
Our court system is in dire need of more money; we need more money for mental health; we need more money for our juvenile systems; we've got to address our prison system; and if we don't expand Medicaid we'll start seeing more and more rural hospitals closing their doors.
If people don't think Alabama residents are already playing the lottery, they are blind. They make the trip from Montgomery to Century on a routine basis. The counties that border Tennessee, Georgia, Florida and soon Mississippi see tons on money leaving those counties on a daily basis to play the lottery.
Back when the Powerball topped $1 billion I interviewed some people at Southern Pit Stop in Century. They came from everywhere in the state. I even talked to a couple who lived in Mississippi who made the trip to Century to buy Powerball tickets.
I also noted that those same people spent money on gasoline, snacks and getting something to eat from restaurants while they made their lottery run.
I've heard the argument that a lottery negatively affects poor people who spend what little money they have buying tickets. But I also understand that the bulk of the revenue generated from the lottery will help those same people.
I do believe that if the Legislature passes a 'clean' lottery bill that closes loop holes and perfectly states where the money will be spent it has a good chance of being approved by the voters.
But we can't vote unless the Legislature gives us that right.
