Alabama Democrats are lamenting the state Legislature's failure to pass any lottery and gambling bills during the 2024 legislative session.

The Alabama House Democratic Caucus released a statement Friday in response to the failed vote on a constitutional amendment that would have authorized a lottery and legalized gambling.

AHDC Statement on Lotteries and Gambling. Your freedom, your future #AlPolitics pic.twitter.com/x1PSB6ZEp1

— Alabama House Democrats (@ALHouseDems) May 10, 2024

“We are deeply disappointed that Alabamians will once again be denied the right to vote on this important issue,” the statement said. “From the beginning, House Democrats have respected the clear direction given to them by Alabamians and fought for a true education lottery that is entirely dedicated to education and ensures health care funding for all of Alabama.”

Lawmakers also argued that the state loses huge amounts of revenue to other states that run lotteries.

“Inevitably, people will continue to spend money on lotteries and other forms of gambling in neighboring states, and sadly, Alabama will miss out on much-needed revenue,” the statement continued. “We expect this issue to be considered in the future, and we hope that the clear direction of Alabama voters will be reflected in an Honest Gambling Bill.”

Gambling was a contentious issue throughout the session, with the House and Senate passing completely different bills on the issue. A conference committee was formed, but the consensus was also rejected by the Senate by a vote of 20 to 15. Because a constitutional amendment required a 60% majority in both houses, 21 votes were needed for passage.

Gov. Kay Ivey also rejected a proposal to call a special session on the issue.

“Why would I do that?” Ivey said. “They can't come to an agreement at this point, so why would I spend the time and effort and money on a special session? So I'm disappointed that the gambling bill doesn't represent the will of the people.”

From earlier, this @GovernorKayIvey When asked about the possibility of a special session on gambling, he said, “Why would we do that?” #AlPolitics pic.twitter.com/swDRpJ9mQr

— Todd Stacy (@toddcstacy) May 9, 2024

Yaffe is a contributing writer for Yellow Hammer News and hosts “The Yaffe Program” weekdays from 9-11 a.m. WhistlerYou can follow us on Twitter @Yaffe