Pro-Gambling Commercial Sparks Debate (WHNT-TV Huntsville)
Governor Bob Riley and pro-gambling lobbyists are butting heads over gambling laws. A group called the “Sweet Home Alabama Coalition” recently began an ad campaign criticizing Riley through TV commercials.
A TV commercial airing in Huntsville and other major Alabama cities is igniting the debate against illegal gambling.
The commercial says, “Bob Riley, denying ties to Mississippi Indian casinos keeps getting harder to believe …”
Some claim the Choctaw Tribe paid Riley millions of dollars to ban gambling in Alabama. Riley denies a financial connection to the Native Americans in the neighboring state.
“Hasn’t been. Never been. But again, it’s like everything else, if you put five million dollars behind it, there will be certain people that may believe it. I hope they don’t,” Riley said.
The Sweet Home Alabama Coalition is paying for the ad. It’s a lobby group made up of businesses that want to legalize electronic bingo.
“They know without a shadow of a doubt that what they’re doing is illegal,” Riley said.
“Well, that they are very narrow-minded politicians,” Sweet Home Alabama Coalition Spokesman Doug Rainer said over the phone from Enterprise, Alabama.
He says his company Ronnie Gilley Properties did not help pay for the commercial. The Coalition is backing House Bill 154, which is being considered by the legislature.
“We believe that Native Americans, if they have the right to play bingo in the state, so should private operators. And, this bill is going to level the playing field, and that’s what we’re looking for,” Rainer said.
Sweet Home Alabama’s website says the bill would tax, regulate and limit bingo. They say the bill could provide millions of dollars for education and Medicaid.
“The programs are both basically defunct right now and they’re in desperate need, and a gaming tax would certainly help alleviate that problem,” Rainer said.
“I think most members of the legislature understand that we have a quality of life here. Very few states do. I don’t think they want Las Vegas casinos in Alabama,” Riley asserted.
Later in the commercial, the announcer says, “David Barber, the Commander of Governor Riley’s Anti-Gambling Task Force admits to pocketing thousands in winnings from a Mississippi Indian Casino.”
The commercial comes after Barber resigned from his position January 13th. He gambled legally and won $2,300. Riley accepted his resignation.
The Governor is appointing Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson to serve as Commander of the Illegal Gambling Task Force. He made that announcement today.
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