In the Weeds with Alabama Daily News Todd Stacy

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Sen. Garlan Gudger, one of the Senate’s primary negotiators this past session on the gambling legislation, said  Thursday another bill could and should come back in the 2025 session.



Gudger, R-Cullman, was one of the three senators and three House members on a conference committee that tried to work out the differences between bills allowing a lottery and expanded gambling in the state. The House-passed version was broader, allowing online gambling and sports betting and more casino-style gambling in the state. Senators wouldn’t go that far and a scaled-back compromise ultimately failed by one vote in the Senate.



That was discouraging, Gudger said, but a lot was learned and lawmakers got closer to allowing Alabamians to vote on a lottery constitutional amendment than they had in 25 years.



“I’d like to see it come back up,” he said on Alabama Daily News’ podcast, In the Weeds. “We were only one vote short. It's not like we're, you know, 10 votes short. And so we'll see what happens with the leadership, if they want it to come back up. I think there will be some people that want it to.”



He said he thinks small changes to the bill could flip some of the 15 no votes in the Senate.



“Having a few tweaks would bring us a vote or two back … and I think it doesn’t take too much to do it. The question is, do we bring it up at all? I would like to see it come back, personally.”







He’s not alone. David Bronner, the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s CEO, this week said he’d like Gov. Kay Ivey to call a special session on gambling, citing how the revenue could fund raises for state retirees. 



While lawmakers got close on gambling, the bill’s failure this year caused more tension between the House and Senate than in previous years. Still, Gudger says he sees a chance for communication and work before February 2025.



“The house was a little frustrated, obviously, with us because they had passed that bill multiple times and we had not passed it at all,” Gudger said. “We gave them a different bill but they didn't like it, non-concurred and brought it back up. So, we are at odds, kind of fighting each other. The reality is, that’s politics. We're gonna have grudges and that’s going to linger for a little while. But the key is, in the end, how do we get something done for the people of Alabama, in my opinion, so they can have the opportunity to vote.” 



He also warned that some things said in frustration could come back to haunt members.



“This is politics and politics in Alabama runs deep and people have a long memory,” he said.



Gudger also talked about the need in 2025 for a dedicated funding stream for mental health care, particularly the 988 crisis hotline. More money could guarantee calls from those considering suicide would be answered by professionals in Alabama, who could better connect them to local resources. Currently, about 25% of calls are answered out of state. 



“We were hoping to get funding through the gambling legislation, it didn’t happen,” Gudger said. “So what do we do now?



“… We’re trying to figure that out.” 



Gudger said one of his best friends committed suicide right before the start of the session.



“I am passionate about trying to find funding for this,” he said. “I do think that this is becoming a large epidemic in the state of Alabama and by not having consistent funding for this, I think that we’re hurting Alabamians …”



Gudger is the chairman of the Senate Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Development Committee and sponsored this session one of the priorit...

It has been a while since Mary and I sat down to record a podcast.



It had been a pretty slow news week until the Trump verdict broke. We talk about how that will reverberate in Alabama, plus what can be discerned from the legislative session now that the dust has settled a bit.



Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

It's the home stretch of the legislative session and, accordingly, Mary and I have a new pod out setting the table for the weeks ahead.



There's a lot to talk about, including what to expect on the budgets, tax credits and gambling.



Listen HERE or wherever you get your podcasts.

A new episode of In the Weeds is out today!



Mary and I discuss a number of topics, including:



* the recent HD 10 special election and the national media reaction;

* what to expect when the Legislature returns next week, including on budgets, gambling, torts, ready-to-drink legislation and workforce;

* the Alabama congressional delegation's split votes on the recently-passed minibus appropriations package.



Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Todd and Mary celebrate being able to take a bit of a breather as the Legislature takes a week off for Spring Break. There's plenty of punditry to catch up on, though. They walk through what happened and what's next on gambling, IVF, school choice, the budgets, AL-1 & AL-2, and, of course, the fallout from U.S. Senator Katie Britt's national debut.



Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts.

Todd and Mary are at a meeting of the Alabama Council of Association Executives. For those not familiar, that's the group of governmental affairs leaders that team up for regular updates on the state of affairs inside Alabama politics and government. In short, it's an insider crowd. And so there's perhaps no better audience to do the first live in-person recording of the In the Weeds podcast.



Today @MarySellQuillen & I were asked to do an issues roundup for the Alabama Association of Council Executives and we thought, why not record it for In the Weeds? It was lots of fun, even if my jokes were lame. Thanks for inviting us ACAE! Now to edit the podcast...#alpolitics pic.twitter.com/iq9nDRWO4q

— Todd Stacy (@toddcstacy) January 31, 2024