Pat Dye: Lottery alone won’t fill state budget gaps
Former Auburn head football coach Pat Dye, now President of the Alabama Jobs Foundation, issued a statement Thursday that despite his strong support for a state lottery, that alone is not enough to heal Alabama’s ongoing budget woes. “We need real long-term solutions for our budget crisis, not short term fixes, cuts to essential state services and hundreds of millions in new taxes that the people of Alabama cannot afford,” said Dye on Thursday. “The real solution is right before our eyes and yet the Alabama Legislature refuses to see: a vote on gaming and a lottery. It is wrong to raises taxes before we give the people of Alabama the right to vote on gaming and a lottery.” The solution Dye refers to is Sen. Del Marsh‘s gaming plan, which is more thoroughgoing than lottery-only proposals now circulating in the Legislature. Marsh’s plan would not only reverse Alabama’s position as one of just a few states in that nation with no state lottery, it would eliminate current anti-gambling prohibitions to create a handful of state-sanctioned casinos around the state. Dye went so far as to say that without more expansive provisions, the AJF – a coalition of leading state industrial and business interests – would withhold its support for a referendum to enact a lottery. “A lottery and gaming will create $400 million in new revenue, $1.2 billion in economic impact, and create more than 11,000 new jobs, a job total equal to the Alabama auto industry. Job creation is the key to Alabama’s economic future. The Alabama Jobs Foundation will not support a lottery referendum because a lottery alone will not create the jobs or economic impact we need to fix our long term budget problems,” said Dye. Dye had previously called for a vote on a referendum on a more expansive gaming program, citing a poll which indicated high levels of support among Alabama voters.
Alabama Jobs Foundation: “Let the people vote” on gaming bill
As reported Wednesday morning, the Alabama Jobs Foundation released the results of a poll it commissioned that showed strong support (69 percent) for a gaming bill a la Sen. Del Marsh‘s proposal circulating in the Legislature, and overwhelming support (89 percent) for the right to have the debate publicly by way of a referendum on the measure. Early Wednesday afternoon, AJF officials commented about the numbers and what they mean for Alabama’s economic and political future. “These results simply confirm what I hear from Alabamians across the state,” said Pat Dye, former head football coach at Auburn University. “They are ready to vote on this issue once and for all. The voters are clear about what they support: an education lottery and gaming that brings jobs, revenue and economic development to our state.” “Alabamans get it. They see Alabama dollars flowing into other states and they want those dollars stopped and working right here in Alabama for our workers and families. It’s just good old-fashioned common sense,” Dye said. Marsh — whose gaming proposal is competing for oxygen with the Poarch Creek Indian Tribe’s plan in the public sphere and the Legislature — agreed wholeheartedly. “The voters of Alabama are speaking as loud and clear as they can on this issue,” said Marsh, a Republican and Senate president pro tempore. “They demand the right to vote on this issue. They support my lottery and gaming constitutional amendment by large numbers.” “And just as important, they oppose raising taxes, too,” Marsh said as a dig at Gov. Robert Bentley and fellow senators who have proposed balancing the books by increasing tax receipts. Marsh cited the AJF poll in a news release, which showed 66 percent of voters polled oppose Bentley’s plan to increase taxes and that 63 percent of voters indicated they were inclined to vote against sitting legislators who voting in favor of such a plan . “I think those are the kind of poll numbers that should get the attention of every legislator in Montgomery,” Marsh said.
Del Marsh aims to patch budget deficit with gaming deal
In an aggressive move to fill a projected deficit in the state General Fund, Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh is reportedly circulating a package of gaming legislation that would create four casinos. According to an AL.com report, the proposal reportedly includes a state gross receipts tax provision of 13 percent on gaming revenue at the tracks, located in in Birmingham, Mobile, Macon County and Greene County. Marsh’s proposal also provides for a 1 percent local gross receipts tax that would be shared by the local jurisdictions where the tracks are. The proposal would require an unusually high threshold of support for enactment, needing a three-fifths vote of confidence in both legislative chambers, plus approval from Alabama voters in a state constitutional amendment. March asked fellow senators to study the bill this weekend. If he deems support for the deal sustains it, he told reporters Thursday, he will introduce similar language next week. Marsh’s new gaming efforts are bolstered by a recent study conducted at the Auburn University at Montgomery Institute for Accountability and Government Efficiency, which concluded that the state could garner some $323 million or in new tax receipts — $64 million a year during the first year — were it to allow casino gambling at the state’s four pari-mutuel facilities and adopt a state lottery. Alabaster Sen. Cam Ward recently told AL.com, presciently, that he expected to see a new gaming bill come forward before the end of Session this year. “I think your lottery has a pretty good chance of passing,” Ward said. “The dilemma there is who is going to get the money. If it all goes to education, it doesn’t solve our budget problem.” AL.Com has posted a draft copy of the legislation here. Photo credit
