Statement by Rep. Benjamin Lewis

Lance Griffin/Dothan Eagle

Published: April 14, 2008

Below is the full statement sent to the Dothan Eagle by Rep. Benjamin Lewis after he said he would not attempt to move his bingo bill out of the local legislation committee in the House:

STATEMENT ON BINGO LEGISLATION
“It is apparent that there will not be any further effort at this time by the Alabama state legislature to amend Houston County’s local charitable Bingo amendment.”

“While I support the Country Crossing development which will bring thousands of jobs to our community, I still have reservations about the gambling aspect of the project. I believe this will open the door for casinos to be built in Houston County. I have carefully studied Constitutional Amendment No. 569 and the enabling legislation (Act No. 95-420) which allows charitable Bingo in our county. I read the regulations passed by the Houston County Commission and studied the legal opinions the commission based their decision upon. I sought independent legal advice on this issue from attorneys who represent interests on both sides of this issue. I sought direction from Governor Bob Riley’s office and Attorney General Troy King’s office. I even sought counsel from some of the legislators who sponsored the original legislation in an effort to determine the original intent. It is my belief that there are some problems with the law and some of the provisions are ambiguous. It is partly because of these potential problems with the original law that I introduced a bill in the House to correct the ambiguous language and allow it to conform to what I believe was the original intent of Amendment 569.”
                                         
“Also, in the face of the long standing public policy of this State against gambling as outlined by Article IV, Section 65 of the 1901 Constitution of Alabama, the history of Alabama’s voters repeatedly voting down attempts to establish a state-wide lottery or approve a state-wide gambling amendment to the Constitution, and a number of state court decisions holding similar electronic machines as illegal gambling devices, I believe a clarification in the law was needed. I received numerous correspondences from the public with concerns about the proposed Country Crossing development including a Bingo Casino being built here in our community. 

“One of the things that make the Wiregrass so special is the community spirit that is found here. I stand by my decision to introduce HB 819; however, due to recent events the legislation is effectively dead. It is my belief that political decisions that have the potential to change the direction of a community deserve the input of the community.”