Ron Sparks Vows Push for Alabama Education Lottery
July 2nd, 2009Agricultural Commissioner Ron Sparks, the Democrat from Fort Payne, said he will push for an education lottery if elected governor of Alabama in 2010.
Sparks made the blockbuster announcement in a news conference in Montgomery on Thursday. His plan also calls for taxing and regulating all gambling operations across the state, as well as college and technical school scholarships for every child in Alabama.
In the announcement at his Montgomery headquarters, Sparks said too many Alabama high school graduates do not attend college or trade schools simply because they can’t afford it.
“Higher education is just a dream that costs too much,” Sparks said.
Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.
According to the Newhouse press coverage of the event, “A decade ago Alabamians rejected a statewide push for a lottery to fund college scholarships championed by then-Gov. Don Siegelman.” What they don’t tell you is how and why the lottery was defeated with gambling money from other states funneled through lobbying groups to religious-political organizations such as the so-called Christian Coalition, then led by now disgraced former leader Ralph Reed. They also don’t mention their own role in defeating the lottery with editorials against it in the state’s three largest newspapers in Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville.
“Gambling is already a big business in Alabama,” Sparks said. “For too long Alabama politicians have pretended gambling didn’t exist. For too long state leaders have refused to face reality and deal responsibly with one of the fastest growing businesses in our state.”
Sparks said he had not decided how much he would tax casinos and charity bingo operations, according to the News. But he did call for regulating those operations.
Sparks said he would support allowing each of the state’s 67 counties to decide for themselves through a vote if they wanted gambling, but he would not support a statewide referendum on the issue.
Sparks pledged never to raise taxes on Alabamians and to do away with the state sales tax on groceries, “an effort that has repeatedly failed in the Legislature,” according to the News.
Of course Sparks will face U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, in the Democratic primary in June, 2010 — if he is still in the race by then and Lt. Gov. Jim Folsom Jr. doesn’t change his mind and toss his hat into the ring after all.
Meanwhile, the bad press for Davis continues in The Politico out of Washington, D.C. today.
Davis Hits Party Wall in Alabama
Full Text Press Release
Today, Alabama Agriculture Commissioner and 2010 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ron Sparks announced a comprehensive and sweeping platform of change for Alabama. Sparks stressed the importance of practical and sustainable investments in education, tax fairness for hardworking middle class families and small businesses, and the regulation and taxing of casino style gaming in Alabama.
Highlighting Sparks’ education platform is The LifeStart Scholarship Lottery program; a concerted effort to provide substantive investments in post-secondary educational opportunities, while generating the financial resources to aid a statewide educational system in dire need of financial aid.
“Education changes lives,” Sparks said. “The single most effective way to change the future of Alabama is to guarantee an education for our young people through improved access to post-secondary education.”
For many young and energetic students, access to public higher education exists as merely a dream; a dream that costs too much. Since 2001, the average cost of tuition for Alabama colleges/universities has increased by nearly 35%, which is more than twice the rate of the growth of the average family income. In many cases, the ever growing costs of educational opportunities in Alabama makes it unaffordable for thousands of Alabamians.
“It is tragic that so many talented young people drop out of school. It is equally tragic that the dream of a better future is just too expensive for so many. That’s why, as Governor, I’ll fight to create the LifeStart Scholarship Lottery program,” said Sparks.
Expanding on the successes of similar initiatives in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, the program would provide every graduating high school student in the state, with a “C” or better grade average, a guaranteed scholarship to a public Alabama University, two year college, or technical program of their choice. LifeStart scholarships would also provide funding for apprenticeship programs in both union and non-union craft training facilities.
Sparks touted his firm commitment to the regulation and taxation of casino style gaming statewide. “We will tax gambling and use the proceeds to support Medicaid, the Special Education Trust Fund, and to create a special relief fund for agriculture.”
Recent studies reveal that gambling has already become big business in Alabama. Today, Alabama citizens spend nearly 1.2 billion dollars a year on some form of gambling. On top of these in-state facilities, about 10% of the all the money spent in Mississippi Casinos comes from Alabama citizens – that’s more than 80 million dollars a year. In total, Alabama citizens contribute nearly 423 million dollars a year to the lottery systems of Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee.
Sparks expressed his disapproval of Alabama politicians’ handling of gambling interests throughout the state. “Our state is sending hundreds of millions of dollars to other states and allowing in-state gaming to get by without paying their fair share. It’s time to start collecting taxes from gambling operations and to use that money to support vital state services and programs,” said Sparks.
Amidst national talks of a recession and budget shortfalls, Sparks remained optimistic, pledging to never support legislation that raises taxes on working families and small businesses. He pledged to roll back the property tax increases imposed on Alabama taxpayers, while also putting a stop to the practice of annual property tax appraisals.
“With the revenues we gain from finally taxing casino gambling in Alabama, we can eliminate any need for new taxes, freeze existing taxes, and still meet our obligations to education and general fund programs,” said Sparks.
With state unemployment and poverty rates ranking among the worst in the country, Sparks stressed the importance of removing senseless tax codes, like the state grocery tax, that place further burdens on Alabama families. “ Alabama is one of only four states without some kind of tax break on groceries,” Sparks said. “Doing away with this tax will save thousands of dollars a year for hardworking Alabama families.”
Sparks’ announcements today are the first of a series of platform announcements expected in the coming weeks.
For more information, visit the website at Sparks2010.com
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
As noted in an earlier post, the record for state lotteries is mixed.
For instance, when I lived in Illinois, one of the first states to adopt a lottery decades ago, I noticed a large number of people buying the “scratch-off” tickets and regular lottery tickets every time I went into a convenience store or liquor store. But Illinois was constantly in a state budget deficit crisis, and the schools were invariably on the losing end of budget cuts.
Mississippi is another story, or so I understand, with arguably improved educational funding due to legalized gambling. But Biloxi and the Gulf Coast get a lot of tourists while Cairo and East St Louis, Illinois, do not. And tourists who go to Chicago are not going there to gamble.
While I have nothing against legalized gambling – if people want to do that with their money, OK with me – what I question is what company or companies would run it, what kind of sweetheart, backroom deals would be cut, and how much we could expect state politicians to steal before the remainder actually got used for schools.
Given Alabama’s track record, I would not bet (pun intended) on excellent results.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:26 pm
I don’t know, the issue propelled Don Siegelman into the governor’s mansion in 1998. A lot of people in Alabama want it. The only thing that killed it before was the Christian Coalition funded by, guess what, out of state gambling money from Texas and Mississippi.
I covered the story after the first year of the Florida lottery. They brought in $1 billion for education. OK, so it wasn’t enough. But Alabama money is leaving the state now to Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. They have lotteries.
Beats the heck out of all these questionably legal computer poker machine outlets all over the state now. In Louisiana, they are everywhere, but legal and taxed.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
I agree that it would be better to keep gambling money in the state rather than exporting it to nearby states to benefit their public schools. My only concern is how corrupt an Alabama lottery would be — anything political with millions of dollars attached attracts corruption. Hundreds of millions and you’ve got all the political vultures flying around it constantly.
If we do a state lottery, it needs to be set up as some kind of independent trust with a board of trustees chosen by multiple sources, etc., to guarantee that it’s as clean as possible. The legislature and executive officers need to be as far removed from it, once it’s established, as possible.
But, all things considered, it would likely be better, as Glynn notes, than what we have now which is mostly illegal gambling that provides no benefits to education.
July 6th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
This just in from Pam’s List:
Alabama’s love affair with gambling
“Never kept a dollar past sunset. Always burned a hole in my pants. Never pleased a school mamma. Never lost a second chance on love.”- Keith Richards
Alabama’s love affair with gambling leaves it cheating on its own state with mistresses in Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, and in the case of really high rollers, places like Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas.
I have been to casinos in Mississippi and I’ve bought lottery tickets in Florida and Georgia. I bet almost all of you reading this have done one or the other of those things if not all, and perhaps more. Tell me then, those of you who would oppose gambling reform in Alabama, why?
Legalized gambling already exists in our state in the form of dog racing, Indian gaming establishments (are they really casionos?…haven’t beeen to one in Alabama) and lately these so-called bingo halls. I went into two different bingo halls near Birmingham this Fourth of July, to see what the fuss was about. They are full of electronic slot machines. I never heard anyone calling out numbers, and nobody shouted bingo!. The prizes where not pies and cakes or baskets of fruit. Cold hard cash is the reward. These “bingo halls” are also run by, or sponsored by, the Veterans of Foreign Wars…people who risked their lives so that the rest of us can say stupid things (freedom of speech) and do stupid things like gamble (privacy and independence) if we so chose.
I’m not going to get into all the legal or moral arguments about gambling. You dear readers probably have heard them all. What I want to do is provoke some responses from Alabama Democrats on the subject. I think everyone would agree that the taxation of gambling institutions in this state could be used for good things; Air-conditioned school buses with seatbelts perhaps.
The legal wrangling over the new form of gambling provides us with another chance to regulate and tax gambling so that it may do some good for a greater majority of our citizens, and not just the owners of the establishments (basically raking in free money) or the few lucky people who win jackpots.
I know gambling can be hurtful to people who become addicted. But there is no way, in my opinion, to stop the demand. Like any other vice, laws against it never keep people from it.
A joke:
A guy was at a casino and saw a sign that read “Gambling problem? Call 1-800…” The guy dialed his cell phone and said.. “Yeah, hello… Look I’ve got a Jack and a six and the dealer is showing a Queen…What should I do?”
Let’s have some well organized regulation and taxation, some clear, well-planned laws and an end to the silly moralistic arguments and legal mumbo jumbo.
By the way, what’s the early line on Alabama-Virginia Tech?
Hunter Ford
July 6th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Good question…