With only 8 legislative days left in the current 2013 Alabama Legislative Session, Sen. Bryan Taylor (R-Prattville) has introduced a bill, Senate Bill 446 (SB446) that will raise the penalty for organized gambling in Alabama from a Class A Misdemeanor to a Class C Felony. This increased penalty should help to deter anyone from setting up an electronic bingo casino and keep machine manufacturers out of Alabama.
This bill, if passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Montgomery and signed by the Governor, will stop illegal casinos from popping up in our neighborhoods, near our churches, schools and throughout the state. It will help to put the gambling issue in Alabama to rest once and for all!
A similar bill was introduced last year and did not get passed. We have an opportunity to get it passed this year, even though the time left in this Session is very short. This is why we need your help! There are 4-5 senators who we understand are unwilling to vote cloture on a possible filibuster. If churches will begin to “flood” the phone lines, email boxes and “snail mail” boxes of each State Senator, andcourteously ask them to vote cloture on a possible filibuster, and then vote for passage of SB446, we can make a huge difference!
These gambling establishments and machine manufacturers continue to set up operations even though they know they will be shut down because the penalty is so small. They consider the relatively small fine associated with a misdemeanor to be the “cost of doing business,” while they steal millions of dollars from the pockets of individuals who do not realize that “the house ALWAYS wins!” Evidence is overwhelming that the machines are often rigged and they are designed to get people addicted to gambling. The breaking of at least four of the Ten Commandments are involved in gambling and, given the addictive nature of gambling, especially in the area of electronic slot machines, the Bible clearly teaches that we should not put a stumbling block in the path of others.
Please follow the link to find your senator and contact him/her today! Be respectful and courteous (especially to the secretaries who may take your message), but be firm in asking them to vote YES to cloture of a possible filibuster and YES to passage of SB446. Act NOW because time is running out!Not concerned about illegal casinos? See this video from former Governor John Patterson talking about the assassination of his father, former Alabama Attorney General Elect Albert Patterson, who was gunned down in the streets of Phenix City, AL after winning the AG election based on his promise to end gambling in that city. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0YXdXemEew
This bill, if passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in Montgomery and signed by the Governor, will stop illegal casinos from popping up in our neighborhoods, near our churches, schools and throughout the state. It will help to put the gambling issue in Alabama to rest once and for all!
A similar bill was introduced last year and did not get passed. We have an opportunity to get it passed this year, even though the time left in this Session is very short. This is why we need your help! There are 4-5 senators who we understand are unwilling to vote cloture on a possible filibuster. If churches will begin to “flood” the phone lines, email boxes and “snail mail” boxes of each State Senator, and courteously ask them to vote cloture on a possible filibuster, and then vote for passage of SB446, we can make a huge difference!
These gambling establishments and machine manufacturers continue to set up operations even though they know they will be shut down because the penalty is so small. They consider the relatively small fine associated with a misdemeanor to be the “cost of doing business,” while they steal millions of dollars from the pockets of individuals who do not realize that “the house ALWAYS wins!” Evidence is overwhelming that the machines are often rigged and they are designed to get people addicted to gambling. The breaking of at least four of the Ten Commandments are involved in gambling and, given the addictive nature of gambling, especially in the area of electronic slot machines, the Bible clearly teaches that we should not put a stumbling block in the path of others.
Please follow the link to find your senator and contact him/her today! Be respectful and courteous (especially to the secretaries who may take your message), but be firm in asking them to vote YES to cloture of a possible filibuster and YES to passage of SB446. Act NOW because time is running out!Not concerned about illegal casinos? See this video from former Governor John Patterson talking about the assassination of his father, former Alabama Attorney General Elect Albert Patterson, who was gunned down in the streets of Phenix City, AL after winning the AG election based on his promise to end gambling in that city. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0YXdXemEew