Bravo, Del! Bravo. Filing a gambling bill this Special Session is the right thing to do.
No matter what position conservatives take on gambling it’s hard to argue that the issue shouldn’t be put before the voters of the state.
The Auburn study on the proposal the Senate was looking at during session was so promising that it’s worth discussing.
As we previously have written, a look at the numbers in the AUM reports:
- A staggering 13,000 plus jobs will be created;
- $331,667,963 is the expected annual revenue from a state-run lottery system, and;
- Depending on the tax rate, the estimated revenue from expanded casinos will be with a rate of 13 percent, $63,015,148, or up to $73,863,632 with a 15 percent tax rate. That adds up to nearly $400 million in tax revenue to be collected for the general fund with the expansion of both.
The gambling bill has the support of Birmingham Mayor William Bell, many in the business community as represented by a coalition headed by Charles McCrary and Pat Dye, and of enough people that it’s worth discussing.
Here’s to hoping Gov. Robert Bentley reconsiders his steadfast opposition to allowing the bill to come up in the Special Session or that the legislators are able to reach the majority needed to bring it up themselves. The people deserve the opportunity to vote.
