Video gambling proponents short of votes in Alabama

Phillip Rawls

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Twenty-one is a winning number in more than blackjack. It's also the number of votes that video gambling advocates need to get their legislation through the state Senate.

And right now, they don't have the votes, officials on both sides of the issue said Tuesday.

"We're working on it. I think within a matter of a few days we'll have it," Sen. Charles Steele, D-Tuscaloosa, said.

Steele and Sen. George Clay, D-Tuskegee, have bills pending in the Senate that would allow residents of Greene and Macon counties to vote on adding video gambling games to the dog tracks in their counties.

Steele and Clay contend they have at least 18 of the 35 senators willing to vote for passage. But they can't get to that point unless they have 21 votes to cut off a filibuster, which Steele said they lack.

Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, a gambling opponent, said his count shows only 19 senators willing to cut off a filibuster, and he said he doesn't see any votes changing.

Both sides have mounted big advertising campaigns, and many lobbyists have been hired to work on the issue.

Last year, the House passed a video gambling bill, but the Senate killed it 20-14. Steele said proponents won't push the bills this session unless they can get 21 serious commitments because gambling votes are too controversial.

"I'm not going to let my fellow senators bleed if I'm not sure I have the votes," he said.

Bills have also been drafted for video gambling at the dog tracks in Jefferson and Mobile counties. Steele said the Greene and Macon County bills have a better chance of passing because the legislative delegations from those counties are united behind the legislation, but the Mobile and Jefferson County legislative delegations are split over their counties' bills.