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Alabama‘s attempt to legalize a lottery and other forms of gambling has failed for 2025, but one state lawmaker is pushing for historical horse racing (HHR) as an interim solution. Sen. Bobby Singleton’s proposal that would allow two racetracks in the county to add HHR terminals to their offerings has been approved by the Senate and is currently under consideration in a House of Representatives committee.
Singleton characterizes the bill as an extension of gaming the Alabama Constitution already authorizes in the county but there are others in the Alabama Senate who would like to establish uniform standards for all of Alabama’s 67 counties regarding gambling. The fate of Singleton’s bill could signal which way the state will move forward in of gambling regulation.
HHR bill could produce new tax revenue
Singleton introduced SB90 on Feb. 4 and the bill was approved by the Senate on April 8 by a 14-1 vote with 19 abstentions. Since then, it has been reported out of the House’s Committee on Local Legislation favorably and was placed on the calendar for a potential vote in the House but was referred to the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee on April 10.
As ed by the Senate, SB90 would explicitly state that historical horse racing (HHR) gaming terminals are legal in Greene County as long as the party making them available to bettors has a pari-mutuel wagering license from the state. The bill assesses revenue from such gaming at a 10% rate and gives the legislature leave to increase that rate up to 15% at its discretion.
SB90 specifies that the Greene County Commission receives quarterly payments out of that tax up to $50,000. It also establishes a Greene County Racing Commission to oversee gaming in the county.
That concept of a county-by-county governance for gambling could become a sticking point for the future of gaming in Alabama.
Debate over local control of gambling continues in Alabama
Alabamans have become familiar with political differences on gambling regulation through the current decade. In addition to a potential state lottery to other forms of gaming, animus between local and state authorities on bingo halls have provided an example of tensions over whether counties have the right to make their own rules about gambling.
A 2022 decision out of the Alabama Supreme Court led to the shuttering of electronic bingo games in multiple Alabama counties. Ryan Hall of CBS42 shared comments from Alabama Sen. Greg Albritton that voiced the concerns of those who want to see the state formulate a comprehensive and uniform framework.
This is going to allow sports gaming to come in completely unregulated and uncontrolled. It’s going to allow more of these entities to spring up and become legal through these local constitutional amendments. More and more opportunities for more and more local [constitutional amendments] for more and more gambling to occur in more and more places without the state controlling it or benefitting from it.
However, as efforts to create that framework have stalled in Montgomery, Singleton makes the case that he is working to benefit his constituency as the people in Greene County cannot wait for legislators to form a consensus.
According to Hall, Singleton said that, “with this bill, it’ll give us an opportunity to bring that revenue back up, so that we can be able to do more cost sharing with more entities in the county.It’s going to do a great deal for this county. We’re just trying to do something to keep it alive.”
Should SB90 become law, it could set a greater precedent for local control rather than a cohesive system across Alabama. While some in Montgomery dread a patchwork regulatory system, patience for the implementation of such a system could be growing thin.
