HB152 Alabama 2024 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

Chris Blackshear Representative

Republican

Session

Regular Session 2024

Title

Alabama Gaming Commission, established, duties provided for; casino-style games, sports wagering, and lottery games, regulated; gambling offenses, further provided

Description

This bill would implement the constitutional amendment proposed in House Bill ___ of the 2024 Regular Session, which authorizes the regulation, taxation, and licensure of certain gaming activities in the state under the regulation of a gaming commission established by the Legislature.

This bill would establish the Alabama Gaming Commission and provide for the powers, membership, and duties of the commission.

This bill would create the Gaming Enforcement Division within the commission and provide for its powers and duties, including the power to police all gaming activities in this state and work to eradicate unlawful gaming and gaming-related activities.

This bill would establish a competitive open bidding process by which applicants would be able to apply to receive a license to operate one of seven gaming establishments where casino-style games would be authorized to be played.

This bill would levy a state tax on the net gaming revenues of casino-style gaming activities and sports wagering activities.

This bill would establish the Gaming Trust Fund, into which would be deposited the gaming taxes and HB152 INTRODUCED license fees collected by the commission, and would provide for the administration and distribution of the funds therein through an independent supplemental appropriation bill for non-recurring non-education purposes only, including: mental health care and developmental disabilities, rural health care and the purchase of qualified health benefit plans for certain eligible individuals, capital expenditures for volunteer fire departments, development and improvement of state parks, improvement, repair and construction of roads, bridges, and infrastructure in counties and municipalities, and the establishment of deferred prosecution programs such as drug courts and veteran's courts.

This bill would provide for the issuance of gaming establishment licenses, sports wagering licenses, and charitable fundraising permits.

This bill would authorize the commission to assess civil penalties for violations and would provide a process for hearings and appeals of a violation.

This bill would provide criminal penalties for certain violations.

This bill would further provide for criminal penalties related to unlawful activity associated with gaming activities and sports wagering and would repeal certain outdated gaming provisions.

This bill would create a state lottery to be administered by the Alabama Lottery Corporation and HB152 INTRODUCED would provide for the creation and operation of the corporation, including its board of directors and president.

This bill would establish the Lottery Proceeds Fund in the State Treasury for the purpose of receiving all monies and other revenues collected by the corporation in its operation of the state lottery.

Monies in the fund would be used to provide for the operating expenditures of the corporation and the payment of prize money to lottery game winners.

Remaining proceeds would be transferred to the Lottery for Education Fund, which would be annually appropriated through an indepedent supplemental appropriation bill for non-recurring education purposes only, including: the establishment of two-year community and technical college scholarships, dual enrollment costs, research dollars for higher education, non-recurring capital expenditures for public K-12 schools, and the hiring of school resource officers and other school security purposes.

This bill would provide the Court of Civil Appeals with original jurisdiction to hear various appeals of actions of the commission and would provide for an immediate right to appeal certain rulings to the Alabama Supreme Court.

This bill would provide various anticorruption provisions, including campaign finance prohibitions on gaming-related interests.

HB152 INTRODUCED This bill would amend various criminal laws relating to gaming activities to make conforming changes and would also increase penalties for a violation and further increase the penalties on a subsequent violation.

This bill would become repealed in the event the constitutional amendment proposed in House Bill ___ of the 2024 Regular Session fails to be ratified in the November 2024 General Election.

Section 111.05 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, prohibits a general law whose purpose or effect would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds from becoming effective with regard to a local governmental entity without enactment by a 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of specified exceptions; it is approved by the affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to the entity for the purpose.

The purpose or effect of this bill would be to require a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the meaning of the section. However, the bill does not require approval of a local governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to become effective because it comes within one of the specified exceptions contained in the section.2 HB152 INTRODUCED.

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Subjects

Gaming