Senate committee approves video gambling at Alabama dog track

Phillip Rawls

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2000 | 4:09 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Alabama Legislature's annual battle over video gambling began Wednesday when a Senate committee approved legislation that could lead to the games being added to the Macon County dog track.

The Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee voted 4-1 for a bill by Sen. George Clay, D-Tuskegee. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it could be considered as early as Tuesday.

The committee's vote was no surprise to anyone because the panel traditionally approves gambling legislation. Senators on both sides of the issue said the fight will be in the Senate, where a video gambling bill was blocked by one vote last year.

Clay said it's hard to fight opposition from both religious groups and Mississippi casinos, but "it looks pretty good."

Sen. Bill Armistead, R-Columbiana, said he expects the bill to die in the Senate because some senators who voted for Gov. Don Siegelman's lottery legislation last year are eager to get an anti-gambling vote on their record, especially after Alabama voters defeated the lottery plan Oct. 12.

A video gambling bill has also been introduced for the Greene County dog track, and bills have been prepared for the tracks in Mobile County and Birmingham, industry spokesman Rick Heartsill said.

Clay's bill is different from bills introduced throughout the 1990s because it would require a referendum in Macon County on allowing skill-dependent electronic games, such as video poker and blackjack, at the VictoryLand dog track, which is 15 miles east of Montgomery. Previous bills didn't have a public vote.

Macon County officials lined up Wednesday to support the bill because, they said, the track has been a major source of revenue for the rural county and its schools and the video games would help reverse declining attendance and tax revenue.

Dan Ireland, director of the anti-gambling Alabama Citizen Action Program, said the legislation allows Macon County to have as many referenda as it takes to legalize video gambling, but it doesn't allow the citizens to vote to remove it if they become disenchanted with it, as happened recently in South Carolina.

Voting for the bill, in addition to Clay, were Sens. Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; Charles Steele, D-Tuscaloosa; and Charles Langford, D-Montgomery. Armistead cast the lone nay vote.

Absent and not voting were Sens. George Callahan, R-Theodore; E.B. McClain, D-Brighton; Tom Butler, D-Madison; and Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia.