Getting a grasp of how many of those exist is also a goal of the group. “We don’t need to expand gambling, it’s already here,” Blackshear said about illegal sites around the state. They’re also looking at regulating and taxing gambling in the state. Whitt previously said the ad hoc group came together to get a lottery constitutional amendment before voters. They’ve continued to work this summer with the goal of legislation early in the 2024 session. He and Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Phenix City, are part of an informal group of House members studying what lottery and gambling legislation might, finally, pass their chamber. “I’ve concluded that it’s simply the wild west in Alabama when it comes to gaming,” Whitt told Alabama Daily News recently. Over the last six months, Whitt said he’s traveled around much of the state to see what gambling operations - legal and illegal - exist. Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, says he’s recently purchased bogus scratch-off lottery tickets in multiple Alabama counties.Īnd on a day trip to one north Alabama county, he visited 12 illegal gambling sites with electronic bingo machines.
