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Sparks Still Pushing for Gambling in AL

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

Last week there were waves made in the gambling laws in Alabama. As you may or may not know, there were eleven people cited in various indictments in the state. They were all allegedly involved in taking as much as $2 million in bribe money to push for gambling to be legalized throughout the state. The parties involved were not small players, but rather “high ups” who had a lot of clout in the gambling world. Alabama is reeling for a lot of reasons due to the indictments and now is trying to come together to revisit the issue. The legal infractions were handed down by Montgomery County in the state. One legislator who is fighting still is the Democratic candidate for the position of governor Ron Sparks. He believes that the indictments in themselves are political in nature. With an election coming up, is it difficult to say why this exact time was chosen to bring up the issue of gambling. He believes that it was to put a bad spin on the activity and shore up opponents to legalizing gambling in the state of Alabama.

Sparks has long been a supporter of the activity. He believes like other proponents that it would be a sure fire way to bring in millions of dollars and jobs to the market. His position is that if he is elected, he will make sure that gambling is legalized and regulated throughout the state. Though he has a strong support system, it may be difficult for him to change the laws. Current Governor Robert Riley already has took a strong stand against gambling and even created the Task Force on Illegal Gambling. The final say some believe should be with the voting public, but even that is proving to be a difficult task. Recently a bill was proposed that would have done just that—put the issue up for vote in November of this year. It never made the ballot though because the anti-gambling Republican party rejected it. This means that the issue will have to be settled in other ways. It will take time to recover from the indictments since they named huge players in the political market as some of the biggest law breakers.

AL Fighting Out Gambling Law

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Alabama is one of the states heavily embroiled in the gambling laws. Legislators have long been rewriting laws and coming up with issues on both sides of the coin. Part of the biggest opposition has come from Governor Robert Riley. He has been a strong opponent of gambling and even created a Task Force on Illegal Gambling to uncover illegal activities and problems with the issue. His job was to push for no more gambling to be allowed into the market. Changes are happening despite his opposition though. Recently there was a federal indictment that named various players in the market; from four senators, to owners of casinos and gambling proponents, they all were named in the indictment. It is creating problems because the Justice Department also was involved and the Criminal Division’s Larry Breuer noted that this was a huge problem and egregious violation of laws. Supposedly huge dollars were promised to legislators who agreed to vote in favor of a new pro- gambling bill trying to be pushed in the market. They are all being accused of taking the bribe and that is a huge offense.

Gambling opponents are citing this as the start to problems. The laws aren’t even in place yet to legalize gambling, but already there is a new crime to investigate. Part of their argument is that if gambling is legalized, it will create crime, money laundering and other addictions to be increased within the market. Though until now there was no proof, it is proving to be more difficult to change the issue now that this has happened. Only time is going to tell how the indictment is going to play out and how it is going to change things for the state. Quite possibly it will be a good argument for legislators who are not in support of gambling to continue their push. It adds to their cautions of the problems that gambling inevitably introduces to any market. Right now the election is still going to carry a referendum vote giving the final decision of wagering to the people to decide on. The vote in November will be telling of what is going to happen in the future.

Victory Land in AL May be in Danger

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Alabama is still in the midst of gambling debates. Governor Riley has been a strong opponent to legalizing gambling and even created a task force specifically focused on gambling activities. The task force is busy finding and shutting down gambling within the state. Though right now Riley has been pining hard to shore up rules against gambling, he also is close to the end of his term as governor. This means that a lot of his staunch rulings against gambling may be challenged. Even residents who want gambling in the state are already planning on their own campaigns to bring gambling in. No one knows what the next governor’s stand on the issue will be and he may or may not be focused on making gambling legal. Either way, gambling will be an important issue for any candidate who moves into office as governor.

One location within the state that is making a big difference in the issue is Victory Land. That is a casino resort that has thousands of table games and video slots. The purpose of the casino is to bring the best gaming in the world to the residents of the area. It has had a lot of success and brought in its own share of dollars to the state. Unfortunately Riley has targeted the location for closing since it is a gambling operation. The business however has retaliated with a range of court ordered stays and such. There is a hefty battle between the two entities, each having their own solid reasons why their position should be upheld. One of the biggest arguments owners of Victory Land has is that if it is closed due to the governor’s task force that will put hundreds of residents out of work. The unemployment rates are still high in the country and a mass closing like this will do little to bring that number down and help people get back on their financial feet. Only time will tell what is going to happen with the business of gambling but one thing is for sure: gambling will continue to take a focus with legislators and they will affect residents and businesses alike within the market.

Victoryland in AL Center of Controversy

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

The state of Alabama has been in turmoil due to the gambling law changes. Like other states, Alabama’s legislators have been debating out what to do with the hobby. The biggest problem is whether or not to legalize it. Other states are looking at it from a financial perspective. They believe that it offers them the perfect opportunity to bring in millions of tax revenue dollars. Without gambling there are few other options for bringing in the dollars needed to overcome diminished deficits and state budgetary requirements. Still, despite the overwhelming dollars available, there are problems with accepting the new laws.
Alabama had added issues because its legislators already built a Task Force to handle illegal gambling. The task force was put together to uncover operations and shut them down. Unfortunately, the shut downs of casinos are included in the move. That means that casinos that employ thousands of state residents are going to be leaving those people in the unemployment lines. Due to the huge numbers involved, this is becoming a central issue. The casino Victoryland in Macon County is the focus of this problem. The casino employs thousands and has been fighting hard against the changes in gambling bans. The task force however has its own counter moves to employ.

Recently the Circuit Court Judge Tom Young turned away a request for a restraining order. The order was made to help Victoryland stay in up and running. Now, the Task Force is pushing to overturn the order. They want to move in on the casino and sweep it away under the new laws. Alabama residents are not torn on this issue—they believe that without the casino up and running it will put even more distress on their own finances. A huge selection of supporters are fighting hard for the casino to stay in operations and hoping that the restraining orders will be upheld. They know that it is a hard road to keep the doors of the casino open and this fight is far from over. There are still more moves to be made that could, or could not, keep gambling open within the state and thousands of residents employed.

AL Governor May Have to Rethink Position on Gambling

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

Alabama is heavy in debates over gambling. It’s no secret that every state is fighting out the legalization and regulation of gambling. On one hand you have those who are pro gambling- they believe that with the proper regulation gambling can bring in millions of tax revenue dollars. In today’s economy, there are few businesses that would turn down the millions available in additional money. On the other hand, there is the anti gambling group of supporters who believe that the ethical cost of having legalized gambling is too much to deal with. They believe that inevitably gambling would bring about too many other problems like crime, money laundering and addictions. Without the proper ways to manage these issues, it would mean sure disaster for communities.

Alabama is a state that has taken on a strong stand against gambling and Governor Robert Riley has been instrumental in the pitch to keep gambling out of the state. He created a task force to specifically handle gambling activities by finding them and then breaking them up. Though he has a supportive team, now it seems that a new argument is coming into the mix. The governor is targeting Victory Land. Victory Land is a gambling location within the state that currently holds the title of the largest employer in the state. That means if it is shut down, it will send thousands of residents to the unemployment line. Considering that the economy is still close to the recession, things have not leveled out as of yet. It may put these people on the brink of financial troubles if they now lose their jobs. Governor Riley is under attack because if he does shut down the location, it will adversely affect a huge portion of the state’s population. In the past few months there have been legal moves by both sides to continue the move on Victory Land. If the location is closed down due to the Task Force, then that could mean the confiscation of over 6,000 gambling machines. That would cut back on the revenue the state brings in and seriously put residents in financial danger.

AL Still Strugging with Gambling Laws

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

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.

AL Sees Issues with Gaming in Near Future

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

Alabama has been debating gambling laws for a while now. Governor Robert Riley formed a Task Force on Illegal Gambling a few months ago and the purpose of the team was to control illegal gambling. They have swiftly taken action over the past few months to uncover, investigate and close down illegal operations. The problem is that shutting down various locations is also eliminating much-needed jobs. This is an offshoot of the problem that has yet to be addressed until now. Alabama residents are having issues and will continue with them throughout the future until this is sorted out completely.

Residents of the US have suffered a great loss in jobs in the past few years. The recession caused many businesses to shut down or to go through major cut backs. The unemployment rate soared and millions of Americans were left out of jobs. Now, that unemployment issue is still rearing its ugly head via new changes in the market. For example, in Alabama Greenetrack is one of the biggest companies and employs the highest number of workers in the state. Unfortunately it was hit hard by the Governor’s Task Force. The facility was raided and hundreds of bingo machines were seized. Once the machines were gone, the facility was shut down.

Although the Greenetrack is appealing the decision, that does little good for the hundreds of residents who are employed at the facility. They are at a loss for finding new jobs. Many have been with the facility for years and now are left in teh same unemployment line as the other millions of Americans are. So far, Attorney General King has tried to step into the actions of the Task Force. He believes that it needs to be regulated to not put hundreds of
residents in unemployment danger. It will take some time for the issue to sort itself out. Residents are left reeling while the legalities are sorted out. The governor will continue his directions to the Task Force, wanting them to continue finding illegal operations and shutting them down swiftly and completely.