During an appearance on this week's broadcast of Alabama Public Television's "Capitol Journal," State Rep. Chris Blackshear (R-Phenix City) predicted a "conversation" would come at some point in the next quadrennium.
The Russell County Republican said that there were no discussions underway and urged opponents to offer solutions to confront existing gaming within the state of Alabama.
"I'll say this: We're not currently working on anything," he said. "But I will say, I don't want to say next session, but I will say next quadrennium. I still think it is a conversation we have to have, Todd. The opponents of it — you know, you still hear we can't afford the expansion of gaming in this state. Well, there is two parts to that, and I would love to hear anybody on the opposing side of things to come to us with a solution of how do we then stop what's already existing? You can't touch what's on tribal land, right? But there is a lot of other, some would argue, quasi-legal, -illegal gaming that exists across the state. So, it's growing every day. It's popping up every day."
"What's the solution to reel that in and control it?" Blackshear continued, "There's got to be some kind of control parameters. So, I absolutely think it's going to be addressed. And the second prong of that is there's revenue just sitting there. It's easy to forget about hard times when your budgets have been so flush. You've been hearing us say for several years on the ETF side and the general fund side the extra money in the budgets are coming to an end. Well, that truly is coming to an end."
He added, "It will be a conversation I look forward to us having. I think it will happen, and I think yet again we're going to have to do something. I think continuing to avoid the elephant in the room is not going to be the answer."
Jeff Poor is the editor-in-chief of 1819 News and host of "The Jeff Poor Show," heard Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-noon on Mobile's FM Talk 106.5. To connect or comment, email [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @jeff_poor.
Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
