Birmingham, Ala. – Today (February 10th, 2021) the Alabama Policy Institute (API) announced the addition of SB214, the gambling and lottery legislation carried by Senator Del Marsh (R-Anniston), to its legislative scorecard–the API Watchlist.
API continues to hold that basing budgets on gambling revenues and the lottery is bad fiscal policy. API is also an advocate of public policies that reduce regulatory and tax burdens on citizens, limit the size of government, and promote school choice.
API is therefore requesting the following five provisions and amendments to SB214.
- The legislation must include ratification by the residents of Alabama.
2. Gaming interests must be banned from donating to campaigns and PACs in all state and local races, including those for mayor, city council, county commission, district attorney, etc.
3. Public benefits, such as EBT cards, must be barred from use at gaming establishments.
4. A considerable portion of the lottery proceeds should go to support K-12 school choice programs.
5. Since the lottery and gambling will result in increased revenue to the state, the legislature should decrease taxes elsewhere. We specifically suggest eliminating the grocery tax as an appropriate offset.
Without such provisions being firmly included, API will overtly oppose the legislation and include it on the annual legislative scorecard as a Key Vote listed as “NO”.
A detailed position statement on SB214 is available here.
To learn more about the API Watchlist, API’s policymaker scorecard, download the overview here or visit alabamapolicy.org/watchlist.