There’s a reason comprehensive gambling legislation never passes in this state.
There’s a reason that year after year Alabama lawmakers leave literally billions of tax dollars on the table, choosing instead to kick a gambling decision down the road and allow truly illegal and predatory gaming to spread across the state.
Politics.
And a perfect example of it played out this week in Alabama’s race for attorney general, between former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell, Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey and Katherine Robertson, the chief counsel for the Alabama AG’s Office.
The true beef is between Mitchell and Robertson. The two of them have been going back and forth over who can raise the most and who loves Trump the most and who took dark money and who wanted dark money and blah, blah, blah.
Along the way, Robertson accepted a $10,000 donation from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. This week, Mitchell issued a press release criticizing Robertson for taking that money, calling it “big gambling” money and saying it created a conflict because the attorney general has a duty to protect Alabama families.
Um, what?
First off, what the hell is “big gambling?” What does that even mean?
But more importantly, how, in the year of our Lord 2025, are we still acting as if an entity operating a casino is anything other than just a business?
For goodness sake, there’s a FanDuel or DraftKings ad on my TV every 10 seconds during football Saturdays and Sundays. There are lotteries and sportsbooks and casinos dotted all over this country, in red states and blue states alike. Some of our most successful investors, and the hedge funds that fuel the American economy, are heavily involved in the gambling enterprise.
And yet, here we are still acting as if this is the 1950s and these new-fangled gambling contraptions are threatenin’ to bring crime and chaos to our sleepy little state.
It’s also worth noting that the donation in question came from the Poarch Creeks tribe, and not the tribe’s gambling entity. That means that any of PCI’s dozens of other businesses—businesses that partner with NASA, the U.S. military, Disney and others—could have contributed to that donation.
I get that PCI is most well known for its three resort casinos in this state, but it also owns several other businesses and is one of the top employers in Alabama. It’s the state’s no. 1 employer in the hospitality industry and its annual tax contributions to the state—and its impact on various communities all over Alabama—help prop up a number of cities and counties. All of whom seem quite happy to accept that money and partner with PCI.
At this point, thinking of the Poarch Creeks as just casino owners is like thinking of Amazon as that online bookstore.
But still, even if the Poarch Creeks only operated casinos, why should we think of them differently than any other business? Why should we think of any of the state’s casino owners in such a way?
That’s not just a question for Mitchell. It’s one for Robertson, too. Because in her capacity as chief counsel over the last several years, she’s played an integral part in shaping the anti-gaming messaging that has flowed from the AG’s office—much of it serving to upend potential comprehensive gaming legislation. She shares some blame in this as well.
Because all of it together has left us in our current gambling purgatory—where we have gambling literally all over the state but receive very little tax revenue from it because our politicians would rather play political games than do their jobs.
That includes painting casino owners as shady businessmen who the public must be protected from. But the truth is, it’s exactly the opposite.
Few industries are as regulated as casinos. PCI’s Wind Creek facilities, for example, face federal scrutiny every year and their operators must pass federal background checks. When casinos are regulated by the state, they go through additional scrutiny and must report all sorts of information and adhere to various inspections. Any deviations from the norms or laws and there are stiff penalties and public condemnation.
If only the same sort of scrutiny was placed on the businesses in this state that have poisoned our rivers, lakes and streams, polluted our air, ripped off customers, failed to protect their customers from obvious fraud and abuse and simply failed to deliver the products or services purchased.
There are literally thousands of businesses in this state that have run afoul of our laws and taken advantage of our citizens, yet no one bats an eye when an AG candidate accepts thousands of dollars from one of them. Even though that candidate is supposed to be protecting Alabama families from those businesses too. (And don’t even get me started on the judges and lawmakers who take money from certain industries and then preside over their lawsuits and craft laws that directly affect them.)
In case you haven’t noticed, the general public’s thoughts on gaming have changed over the past 50 years. No longer is it this mysterious and risque activity that takes place in faraway places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. I can place a bet on a game from my phone. I can buy a lottery ticket with a 30-minute car ride. I can visit a casino in this state.
Alabama voters have to demand better from their politicians on this issue. Demand that they stop playing games. Demand that they make good faith efforts to get something done and use the revenue for education and health care and more. Demand that they take this seriously.
Until you do, we’ll keep living in the past.
