Bedford bingo bill fails in Senate

MONTGOMERY — An electronic bingo bill sponsored by Sen. Roger Bedford failed to be brought up for debate in the Alabama Senate Wednesday after advocates were unable to reach the necessary 21 votes for further debate.
Bedford, D-Russellville, urged senators to vote to bring the bill up on Wednesday morning, but the vote failed 18-16.
Bedford could bring the bill up for consideration again at a later date, but said he does not intend to push it.
“I think this issue is over,” Bedford said after the vote.
Other bingo-related bills have been introduced in the Alabama Legislature, but Bedford—a powerful Senate member—said he is not inclined to support any other bingo legislation.
“I don’t see the votes changing,” Bedford said.
Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, who chairs the Senate rules committee in charge of setting the calendar for bills to be debated, said he would be willing to allow other bingo bills on the calendar, but only if the bills had the 21 votes needed for passage.
“This was our best shot,” Barron said. “This issue is dead unless the Republicans come back and ... the Democrats would even support a straight up or down vote on the matter of whether you think electronic bingo should be legal or not. Then we can come back to the Legislature and work on the details.”
However, Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, said he could change his vote from no to yes on a bingo bill if another bill was introduced.
“If we can find a way to craft a clean bill, I’m willing to support the right of the people to vote,” said Sanford, who said he is working on his own bill and hopes to introduce it “within a couple of days.“
The Rev. Tom Anderson, spokesperson for Concerned Wiregrass Citizens, said he was pleased to hear that the bill failed Wednesday.
“But we do not gloat over this at all. I am glad it failed because I believe it is the best for Alabama and its people and will be a blessing even for those people who thought it would not be,” Anderson said.
Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said he was disappointed in Wednesday’s vote, but said the issue remains alive.
“Certainly we believe that something should pass that allows the people to vote. If this is not the vehicle to resolve the issue, then we need to find that vehicle,” Culver said. “Polls everywhere show the people want to vote on this.“
Sen. Harri Anne Smith, R-Slocomb, voted to bring the bill up for debate.
“I saw today as a vehicle, a starting point,” Smith said. “If we could have had further debate, members could offer amendments and we could go from there.“
Sharp exchanges highlighted the brief debate in the Senate Wednesday morning before the measure failed.
“This is not about whether you are for gambling or against gambling. This is about whether you think that you are smarter than the voters of Alabama or not,” Bedford told senators.