Alabama House Minority Leader Calling For 2025 Push To Legalize Lottery

One of only five states in the U.S. with no legal lottery play, legislators in Alabama tried to cross the Yellowhammer State off that list in 2024, only to frustratingly fall one vote short in the Senate.

So Alabama will try, try again in 2025, as House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, a Democrat from Huntsville representing the 53rd district, said in an interview shared over the weekend on local ABC station 31 WAAY.

“Hopefully we’ll get to the point to where we’re able to gain some additional votes in the Senate in order to shepherd it through,” Daniels said, “so that we can generate more revenue to do more things to help families — working families — in communities within the state of Alabama. And also making investments in our children’s education. We’re paying for education for other states.”

Crossing state lines

Daniels’ note about paying for education in other states is key to the argument in favor of legalizing lottery. Local media in Alabama reports frequently on residents traveling to other states to buy lottery tickets, especially when Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots reach particularly high numbers.

Alabama borders Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi, all of which sell tickets for the major draw games as well as scratch-offs.

“Polling data tells you over 70 percent of people in Alabama want to have a lottery,” Daniels told WVTM 13 in December. “Right now, you look at the price of gas, you’re talking about driving 25-30 minutes to the state line to play the lottery when [if Alabama legalizes lottery] you can go within a quarter of a mile from your home to purchase a lottery ticket.”

The legislature began 2024 attempting to legalize lottery and sports betting and allow for the opening of seven casinos, but when it was clear that a bill that expansive couldn’t pass, the Senate stripped it down and made lottery almost the sole focus (while also allowing for a handful of slot machine locations).

The legislation passed the House with room to spare in April. It needed 21 of 35 votes (60%) to pass the Senate, and got 20 of the 21 votes required.

That 2024 effort included earmarking all lottery proceeds for an Education Trust Fund.

If new legislation in 2025 gets the necessary votes in both the House and Senate, it would then go to a statewide vote. The last time an Alabama lottery bill made it that far was in 1999, when voters rejected the measure by a margin of 54%-46%.