Gambling and the lottery may be dead for the 2025 regular session, but it's likely an issue current and future lawmakers will have to contend with again. In the past two public events, GOP candidates for House District 11 Heath Allbright and Don Fallin strongly opposed expanding gambling and adding a state lottery.
"When I was 25 years old, I started Brighton Forest Services with very little or no money," Allbright said Tuesday at a Cullman County Republican Women's meeting. "That was gambling enough for me. Gambling is not something my family has ever partaken in. I don't have to fill a void by pulling a handle on a slot machine."
Allbright said he was especially concerned about sports betting and the impact it could have on kids and teens.
"I've never bet on a sports game. I don't even know what an over or under is or a spread is. But I do think there is a serious problem there."
Allbright said kids can access sports betting online and on their phones, which can lead to identity theft and other negative effects.
"I've never liked gambling or felt the need to do so, and I think that we need to protect that here."
Fallin said regulating online sports betting would need to be done at the federal level and that underage users would still be able to circumvent safety measures.
"I think that starts at home with parenting," he said, adding that people aged 21-25 are the most impacted by online sports betting.
"If you were to bring another type of gambling in here, say it's lottery or scratch-offs, every place that has these, the most impacted folks are your lowest income folks. So it will only make socioeconomic challenges greater."
Fallin said gambling was a "complicated issue" that would increase the size and power of the state government.
"The goal is to reduce government oversight and reduce government spending," he said.
The primary for the HD11 special election is scheduled for May 13, followed by the general election in August.
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