AL Still Strugging with Gambling Laws
Alabama is a state that is heavy in the debates over gambling laws. If you look at the progression, the state has steadily shored up rules regarding gambling over the past few months. The Governor Bob Riley has made critical moves to change the gambling laws within the state. Now, he has banned electronic bingo games from the state and a task force has finished its job of clearning the machines out of the borders. In 2009 the task force was tasked with finding and breaking up bingo machines and now, it seems that they are finished with the task. The closings were not without controversy though and some organizations are still voicing their opinion on the matter.
The forced closure of the bingo halls has been directly related to the closing of more htan thirty gambling locations. It means that there are more unemployed residents of the state and more empty buildings. Many bingo halls that were targeted for closure were located in lower-income areas and affected many black residents. Black leaders stepped in and held the position that their race was being deprived of valued jobs and money-generating activities. Many equated the move to desegregation and racial profiling stating that one race is being targeted for problems with the closing of the bingo halls and locations.
Task force leader John Tyson however spoke on the issue by stating that the state is not repeating former racial stirred issues. He believed that the task force rather was focused on protecting the innocent. Those who are in opposition to gambling believe that bringing in more gamblng locaitons will surely bring in money laundering, crime and more addictions for the state legislators to manage. Without the proper safeguards put into place, this could prove disasterous to the millions of residents within the state. There are currently no plans to increase the number of addiction services available. Still- the Governor held to his position stating that bingo machines are in essence slot machines and therefore should be banned and removed from the state’s boundaries. It will take time to rewrite the laws, but it seems that for now bingo machines in the electronic form are not going to be allowed.
