Alabama Senator Bringing New Gaming Bill to Table

By Lance Griffin Media General News Service
Published: March 04, 2010

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A Huntsville state senator who voted against Sen. Roger Bedford's bingo bill is planning to take the issue in a different direction with his own gaming bill.
Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, said he plans to introduce a gaming bill that would no longer refer to the machines being played now as "electronic bingo machines" but slot machines, and increase the tax rate to 50 percent on gross receipts.
"I desire nothing more than to move the 'bingo' debate in a new, honest direction - one that is more simplistic, straight-forward, and transparent," Sanford said in a written release. "It has bogged down the Legislature for years, and it is time to put this issue to rest and move on with the other pressing business in Alabama, like getting our economy back on track. We all realize this subject has been a 'grey' area of the law, but it's time for the voters to turn grey into either black or white with a bill that is not dripping in special interest tinkering."
Sanford said features of his proposed bill include:
- Refer to the current machines in use as "slot machines" instead of "bingo"
- Legalize, tax and regulate slot machine casinos in a few pages instead of the current 48-page constitutional amendment full of fine print that nobody reads or understands
- Place casino licenses up for bid so the taxpayers, instead of casino bosses, get the best deal
- Add prohibitions of campaign contributions from the gambling interest to those who appoint the Gaming Commission and to the Legislature
- Establish a minimum tax rate of 50 percent to make sure we're not "giving away the store."
Sanford said he originally intended to support Sen. Roger Bedford's bingo bill, but said a substitute to the bill offered by Bedford contained too many confusing changes.
"If they want a straight up or down vote, then we need to get a clean bill, not a 40-something page monstrosity," Sanford said Wednesday after Bedford's bill failed in the Senate.