Wednesday, May 19, 2004 | 8:57 a.m.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A proposed constitutional amendment to legalize electronic bingo games with unlimited cash prizes died on the final day of the 2004 regular session of the Alabama Legislature.
The bill passed the Senate earlier, but was still pending in the House when the session ended Monday night. House Speaker Seth Hammett said it was not included on the work agenda Monday for fear that gambling opponents would have filibustered and killed the state General Fund budget.
The bill was named "Bingo for Beds and Books" and was expected to raise about $100 million a year for public school textbooks and to pay for Medicaid-funded nursing home beds.
Supporters had argued that gambling already exists at the state's greyhound tracks and at Indian gaming centers.
"It's a shame. There was $100 million in revenue we could have let the people vote on," Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron said.
But opponents said there would not have been enough votes in the House to pass the bill, which they say would have caused a further spread of gambling in the state.
"The state of Alabama should never be in the business of encouraging people to gamble," said Rep. Arthur Payne, R-Center Point, a leading gambling opponent in the House.
Another gambling opponent, Rep. Mark Gaines, R-Homewood, said the bill was "ill conceived."
"It seems that each step you take in passing gambling legislation, you come ever closer to full-fledged gambling," Gaines said.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Gerald Dial, D-Lineville, said the Legislature could have avoided some of the taxes that were passed to balance the General Fund budget if the bingo amendment had passed.
"We've taxed everything from nursing home beds to cigarettes. It's hard to answer why we were willing to leave $100 million on the table," Dial said.
Dial said he did not expect to try to pass the bingo bill again in coming sessions. Payne said he believes such an effort would be futile in the House, at least until the current membership faces re-election in two years.
"I don't think the bingo bill ever had enough support to be considered in the House. I don't believe the current House will ever support a gambling bill," Payne said.
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