{"id":166676,"date":"2021-03-09T09:18:54","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T17:18:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=166676"},"modified":"2021-07-19T02:59:44","modified_gmt":"2021-07-19T09:59:44","slug":"lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawsuit Filed Over Alabama Gambling Bill is \u2018a Lie,’ Says Lawmaker"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lawsuit attacking Alabama gambling expansion legislation<\/a> contains explosive allegations that are untrue, according to the bill\u2019s sponsor, State Sen. Del Marsh (R-12th).<\/p>\n

\"Del
Sen. Del Marsh\u2019s bill would create five new commercial casinos and allow the Poarch Creeks to upgrade to Class III facilities. (Image: Montgomery Advertiser)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The complaint accuses Marsh of taking kickbacks from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in return for pursuing legislation that would enhance the tribe\u2019s gaming operations.<\/p>\n

It was filed Monday in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, the day before the bill was scheduled to hit the Senate floor for debate. The suit also accuses the bill of handing the tribe an illegal gaming monopoly in Alabama.<\/p>\n

\u2018Frivolous Lawsuit\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a phone call with WSFA 12 News Monday, Del Marsh said the allegations of a \u201cpay to play\u201d scheme involving the Poarch Creeks was a \u201cflat-out lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never, ever insinuated to anyone that I will cast a vote for money,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The sole purpose of this frivolous lawsuit is to block the people of Alabama from having a chance to vote on a lottery and gaming,\u201d <\/strong>Marsh later said in an official statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Robert McGhee, director of governmental affairs and public relations for the tribe, described the allegation as \u201cunfounded,\u201d adding it was unfortunate that \u201cpeople would want to attack\u201d Marsh and the tribe with \u201cnonsense accusations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not Quite a Monopoly<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Poarch Band is Alabama\u2019s only recognized tribe. It currently operates three on-reservation casinos that offer slots-like electronic bingo games. Del Marsh\u2019s bill would allow these to be transformed into full-scale Class III casinos with slot machines<\/a> and table games.<\/p>\n

\n

But the bill would not offer the tribe a monopoly. It would also allow commercial casino gaming at five locations<\/a>: the Birmingham Race Course, Victoryland in Macon County, Greenetrack in Greene County, the Mobile Greyhound Racing facility, plus an additional off-reservation Poarch Creek Casino in Jackson or Dekalb County.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The bill would also legalize sports betting at these locations and establish a state-run lottery, with new revenues going to fund scholarships and education.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charities Threatened \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The lawsuit appears to have been filed by a group of charities based in Greene County that are reliant on charitable bingo for fundraising. These revenues could be threatened by the new games that would become available at Greenetrack if the bill were to pass.<\/p>\n

Marsh says he believes he has the support in the Senate to pass the bill Tuesday. From there, it will head to the House for further consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe time is due that we address this issue once for all to try to control gaming in the state and for the state to reap the benefits of it when it\u2019s already going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A lawsuit attacking Alabama gambling expansion legislation contains explosive allegations that are untrue, according to the bill\u2019s sponsor, State Sen. Del Marsh (R-12th). The complaint accuses Marsh of taking kickbacks from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in return for pursuing legislation that would enhance the tribe\u2019s gaming operations. It was filed Monday in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":166684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLawsuit filed over Alabama Gambling Bill is \u2018a Lie,' Says Lawmaker<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Senator Del Marsh accused in lawsuit of taking bribes from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians over Alabama gambling bill and lottery bill.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lawsuit filed over Alabama Gambling Bill is \u2018a Lie,' Says Lawmaker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Senator Del Marsh accused in lawsuit of taking bribes from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians over Alabama gambling bill and lottery bill.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-09T17:18:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-07-19T09:59:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/delboy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/\",\"name\":\"Lawsuit filed over Alabama Gambling Bill is \u2018a Lie,' Says Lawmaker\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/delboy.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-09T17:18:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-19T09:59:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Senator Del Marsh accused in lawsuit of taking bribes from the Poarch Band of Creek Indians over Alabama gambling bill and lottery bill.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/lawsuit-filed-over-alabama-gambling-bill-is-a-lie-says-lawmaker\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/delboy.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/delboy.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":886,\"caption\":\"Sen. 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