BRADENTON, Fla. — Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley appealed to voters to support a state lottery to pay for essential government services he said were not fully funded in the upcoming budget.
Bentley's office released a press release with a link to a pro-lottery video message on his website and his Twitter account.
"I'm giving you the opportunity to vote on a Statewide Lottery,"
Bentley said a state lottery would provide $225 million a year in new revenue for the general fund to pay for programs that support children, the elderly, people with mental illness and those in need, and law enforcement.
He also said that Alabamians are going to other states to gamble.
"The time has come for us to find a permanent solution," Bentley said. "This solution will provide funding that we can count on for year after year without ever having to raise your taxes or put one more Band-Aid on our state's money problems."
The governor also said that the state has used one-time source of revenue to pay for ongoing programs, and that the upcoming budget underfunds programs like Medicaid.
Alabama's state's fiscal year starts Oct. 1.
Bentley said he would call a special session of the Legislature to ask lawmakers to place the lottery on an upcoming ballot.
He did not say when the session would be held or what ballot he would suggest holding the referendum.
Earlier this year, Bentley vetoed the general fund budget saying that it failed to provide about $85 million needed to fully fund Medicaid.
Legislators overrode his veto.
Alabamians have rejected past suggestions that the state create a lottery.
The last time a lottery proposal was on the ballot – to fund education — was in 1999. It was shot down by a vote of 54%.
Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, told the Birmingham News that he would like to see the governor's lottery proposal to appear on the Nov. 8 ballot, when turnout will be high.
"I think it's time we addressed this issue in the Legislature and I think people need to vote on this issue again after 17 years," said Clouse, who is chairman of the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee.
