Bill to support electronic bingo at VictoryLand fails in Alabama Senate

The bill, by Sen. Billy Beasley, D-Clayton, received a 14-13 vote on a procedural vote that requires three-fifths approval.

The attorney general's office shut down VictoryLand three years ago and seized 1,615 machines and $263,000 cash.

The state Supreme Court ruled March 31 that the state could keep the machines and cash, overturning a trial judge's ruling that the state had cherry-picked its enforcement of gambling laws and that the machines were legal under a constitutional amendment approved by Macon County voters in 2003.

The Supreme Court found that the machines, which mimic the play of slot machines, don't meet the legal definition of bingo.

Lawyers for VictoryLand say the networked machines do play bingo and that they are the same as those used at the three Poarch Creek casinos in Alabama.

"It's a fairness issue," Beasley said.

The senator said the casino shutdown was "devastating" for Macon County because of the loss of jobs.

VictoryLand owner Milton McGregor said earlier this month that he plans to reopen despite the Supreme Court ruling.

McGregor said the casino has received more than 4,000 job applications and planned to hire about 1,000 employees.

The VictoryLand bill was the second electronic bingo bill to fall short in the Alabama Senate this session.

Last week, a proposed constitutional amendment by Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, to allow Greenetrack in west Alabama to have the same machines as the Poarch Creek casinos fell four votes short of the required 21 votes.