Senate organizers told APR that a comprehensive gambling bill is unlikely to be considered by a Senate committee this week, but some lawmakers who participated in Monday's marathon session on the two bills said many issue has been resolved, and there is widespread optimism about the bill.

Sen. Greg Albritton said he doesn't believe there is time to bring the bill to committee this week because many issues remain unresolved, but he believes progress has been made in addressing some concerns. He also seems to have hinted that he will.

“I'm not saying I won't come to the committee if we make significant progress, but I don't think we have the time at this point,” he said, adding that the law. “We feel that we were able to address some of their concerns and bring some reality to the discussion. No matter what we do to address their concerns, we do not intend to vote in favor of this bill.” There are several senators and we have to face the reality that they are no longer going to decide things.”

Albritton spoke with some senators in recent days, asking them for a list of specific concerns and then pointing out that each of those concerns was specifically addressed in the bill. said he still told him he would not vote. for the bill.

“There's nothing more I can do there,” he said. “It's time to leave them.”

But other senators and several House members participating in ongoing negotiations and meetings said they were encouraged about the bill's progress in recent days. That was especially true Monday, they said, when there appeared to be a major shift in attitudes toward the state of gambling in Alabama and practical solutions to this lingering problem.

“It was like a light bulb went on for a few people over the weekend,” one councilor said. “Theoretically, there may be better options, but as the song goes, here in the real world, if we were working in a perfect world, it wouldn't be that easy. I think I finally realized it.”

One MP said: “I think a lot of senators are starting to understand what we've come up with: There's only one real path to getting this done, and that's the bill the House put together.” There are many ways I wish I had done things differently. Our law is the solution to this mess that's going on here. ”

It also hasn't hurt, lawmakers said, that Gov. Kay Ivey and her staff have been calling lawmakers and trying to resolve the issue. One senator said his legal staff plays a particularly important role in negotiations.

As an example of progress, one senator cited the debate over the Lottery-Specific Bill and the Lottery Compact bill that became popular late last week. Thanks to cooperation from members of Congress and their lawyers, it appears that those who might have supported such a plan now understand that it simply won't work.

“It's fine for the average person to just want the lottery, but given the current state of federal and state law, that's not possible,” the congressman said. “We've been able to understand that over the last few days. There's no way to pass this in pieces and implement it.

“The other thing we've been pointing out is why on earth would you want to do that? All of these things are popular with people. People lose elections because of bills that allow people to vote on something. not present.”

But Republican officials have recently argued that an election loss would invalidate the bill. The latest tactics by lobbyists opposed to the bill, many lawmakers say, are that putting it on the November ballot would drive Democratic voters to the polls and cost ALGOP elections. It is said that it is important to tell the people.

“That's funny,” Albritton said. “There is absolutely no evidence of that, zero votes. But many polls show that allowing people to vote on gambling is the most popular thing we can do, regardless of political party. I am.”

Another senator added: “The flip side of it being the most popular is that not doing something that 90 percent of voters support is bound to be very unpopular. I'm more worried about that.”