Only 21 of 140 lawmakers sign no gambling legislation pledge

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Only 21 of 140 lawmakers sign no gambling legislation pledge

By BOB JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer
May 16, 2004

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Most members of the Alabama Legislature are not ready to promise they will never support legislation to legalize gambling or that they would refuse to accept campaign donations from gambling interests.

Only 21 of 140 legislators signed a pledge circulated by organizations opposed to gambling. Representatives of the organizations had said they hoped a majority of legislators would sign the pledge and stop efforts to pass legislation like the "Bingo for Books and Beds" bill.

The bill is a constitutional amendment that would legalize electronic bingo games with unlimited cash prizes at the state's four greyhound racetracks, with tax revenue going to buy textbooks for public school classrooms and to Medicaid for state-financed nursing home beds. It has passed the Alabama Senate and is pending in the House, where it could come up for debate Monday, the final day of the 2004 regular session.

John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition in Alabama, said he was disappointed that the majority of lawmakers would not sign the pledge.

"The overarching message this pledge drive sends to citizens is that the gambling interests control the Alabama Legislature," Giles said.

Rep. John Rogers, D-Birmingham, who has supported legislation to legalize casinos and to create a statewide lottery, said he's not surprised so few lawmakers signed the petition.

"They've got to run for office also. Just because they are opposed to gambling doesn't mean the public is opposed to gambling," Rogers said.

After a session in which lawmakers have struggled to balance the General Fund budget, Rogers said the Legislature is going to have to eventually realize that gambling is a way to raise revenue without raising taxes.

"Somewhere along the line, Alabama is going to have to realize we need a new source of revenue," Rogers said.

Sen. Hank Erwin, R-Montevallo, is a former Christian radio talk show host, who led a filibuster against the bingo bill before it passed the Senate. He was one of only three senators to sign the promise not to vote for gambling legislation.

"I would have liked to have seen more senators sign the pledge. But senators like to be very independent thinking and don't like to be pinned down about anything," Erwin said.

He said he was also disappointed that he was not able to stop the bingo bill when it was in the Senate.

"I was hoping that more senators would see that this is not bingo, it's pure gambling," Erwin said.

Rep. Greg Albritton, R-Excel, signed the pledge and said he plans to vote against the bingo bill if it comes up in the House. But Albritton said he feels many legislators are afraid to tie themselves to always voting for or against a specific issue out of fear the pledge "could be used against them."

One representative said he does not sign pledges promising to vote a certain way on issues.

"I don't sign any of those kind of things. I don't think it's being a good legislator if I sign an absolute statement like that," said Rep. Ken Guin, D-Carbon Hill. "You don't know what's going to be presented in the future. We owe it to people to keep an open mind on issues."

http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040516/APN/405160633
 

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The Alabama Supreme Court dealt a harsh blow to the "adult arcade" industry, and thank goodness for that. These enterprises - which are nothing more than knockoff casinos - are more than just bad business. They are illegal under the state's constitution, which forbids games of chance. The arcades slithered into existence by passing themselves off as child's play.

Specifically, they claimed legitimacy under the so-called Chuck E. Cheese law, which permits "amusement" games such as those found in that pizza parlor. The arcades claimed they were not running afoul of the state constitution because their games involved "some skill" and thus couldn't be considered true games of chance. In its 7-1 ruling, the Alabama Supreme Court responded in the most reasonable manner possible.

Baloney, the court said.

The court held that the constitution's ban on games of chance "means what it says and prohibits the Legislature from authorizing 'lotteries or gift enterprises' that involve games or devices in which chance predominates the outcome of the game, even if 'some skill' is involved." This is an important ruling because it offers a degree of clarity to an issue that has produced conflicting court rulings and varied response from law enforcement officers.

At one point, arcades were being allowed to operate in some areas, while in other areas authorities were raiding the establishments and seizing their machines. This kind of inconsistency and confusion gave arcades cover to continue to operate for too long. Just two months ago, a Jefferson County circuit judge added new confusion to the mix with a ruling that adopted the arcades' logic that some of their games involve skill and were permissible under the law.

The ruling was enough for some arcades to announce their intention to reopen around Birmingham. The Supreme Court's ruling should put the kibosh on that. Communities unlucky enough to be home to adult arcades don't benefit from them.

Like casinos, arcades merely take money from those who can least afford to lose it - and they do so at the expense of other businesses, like grocery stores and theaters and restaurants. But arcades give back even less to a community than casinos, in terms of prizes and jobs. The only folks who benefit at these arcades are the owners, assuming they can sleep at night and live with themselves after padding their bank accounts with widows' mites.

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals ruled in 2002 that the Chuck E. Cheese law provided no cover to these illegal video gambling dens. That helped, giving local prosecutors a firm legal basis to shut down the arcades in their communities. But the arcade owners still needed to be told in no uncertain terms that they aren't welcome in Alabama, and a definitive opinion from the state's highest court ought to go a long way toward that.

In a near-unanimous voice - the only dissent came from soon-to-retire Justice Douglas Johnstone - the justices made it clear that Alabama's constitutional ban on gambling will be enforced.

In other words, game over.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/news/editorial/8857438.htm
 

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