What an exciting week it was in the Alabama Legislature! This past Wednesday, April 17, the House Health Committee gave a “favorable report” to a major pro-life bill. That means the bill, House Bill (HB) 314, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins (R-Morgan County) now advances to the full House of Representatives for a vote sometime in the near future. We expect it to pass easily in the House and then we will turn our attention to getting it passed in the Senate and signed by the Governor. Please earnestly pray that God will work in the lives of state lawmakers to pass this important legislation!
ALCAP also spoke this week in a public hearing concerning HB350, also sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins (R-Morgan County), that would allow for the direct shipment of alcohol to consumers’s homes. Home delivery of almost everything imaginable is now available, but alcohol, a mind-altering and addictive drug, is unlike all other commodities. We cannot expect delivery companies to check IDs and assure that alcohol is not delivered to young people under the age of 21. The purchase of alcohol should not be “convenient,” but it should require a certain level of difficulty to purchase because it is so dangerous.
On the gambling front, a public hearing was called (at the request of ALCAP) on HB361. This bill will legalize Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) in Alabama. In spite of all the evidence that DFS is gambling [see www.StopPredatroyGambling.org], the sponsor of the bill, Representative Kyle South (R-Fayette) argued that it is a game of skill. ALCAP tried to convince the House State Government Committee members that because DFS is gambling, it requires a constitutional amendment, but they gave the bill a “favorable report,” advancing it to the full House of Representatives as a statute, requiring only the Governor’s signature if it passes both the House and the Senate. The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), acknowledged that passage of the bill may result in a costly lawsuit.