A former member of Gov. Bob Riley's cabinet said that Thursday Riley received campaign contributions from Mississippi Indians who operate casinos, with the money intended to limit their competition in Alabama.
Bill Johnson said Dan Gans, a senior official in Riley's 2002 campaign, told him the tribe promised $3 million in donations but didn't deliver all of it. Johnson said he was unsure of the exact amount, but thought it has influenced Riley's fight to shut down electronic bingo operations in Alabama.
"I'm concerned that those dollars from Mississippi Indian casino owners are manipulating public policy in Alabama," said Johnson, coordinated Riley's campaigns for governor in 2002 and 2006. Johnson is now a GOP candidate for governor.
Gambling, especially electronic bingo, is an issue that doesn’t seem to go away in Alabama. Part of the issue may be the fact that two state leaders seem to take opposing views on using machines to play bingo.
Riley has repeatedly opposed electronic bingo machines saying they are essentially slot machines, which are illegal in Alabama. However, in 2004 Alabama Attorney General Troy King released a statement on the findings of his gambling review, in which he found instances where bingo could be played on machines legally.
David Lanoue, chairman of the UA political science department, said the fact that these two officials are at odds on the issue shows how complex it is.
“It’s interesting that, to some extent, this seems to be intraparty war among Republicans, which is fairly unusual,” Lanoue said. “Most of the battles are across party lines. There seems to have been a souring of the relationship between the two.”
Lanoue said the dispute between Riley and King seems to be based on the fact that Riley reads the law regarding gambling much more restrictively than King does.
King’s 2004 statement on his study of electronic bingo in the state makes the argument that playing bingo on machines in counties that have passed a constitutional amendment to allow it is the same as playing on paper.
“It cannot be concluded, as some have, that just because the game is being played on video consoles, it is not ‘bingo,’” King said in the 2004 release. “Just as no one would contend that e-mails are any less a form of correspondence than are letters written with a quill pen, but instead represent a technological evolution in correspondence, similarly, bingo games that are depicted on a video console can still be bingo — albeit a technologically advanced form of bingo — but bingo nonetheless.”
In an effort to crack down on illegal bingo halls, Riley created the state Task Force to Stop Illegal Gambling in late 2008. In a news release from January 2009, Riley elaborated on his decision to actively fight against video bingo.
“Those who support this proposal use the excuse: ‘Well, gambling is here, so we ought to tax it,’” Riley said in the release. “I say: Illegal gambling shouldn’t be here. Rather than legalize it, we should rid Alabama of illegal gambling.”
Riley saw some success in late October after circuit court judges in Walker and Jefferson counties ordered all forms of electronic bingo machines should be shut down.
The order from Circuit Judge Robert Vance in Walker County stated the games that were being played on the machines were not bingo, while Circuit Judge Scott Vowell said in his order in Jefferson County the machines were classified as slot machines “in every way that matters.”
Riley praised the decisions by these judges in several press releases on Oct. 26.
“The message sent today is crystal clear,” Riley said. “This is not bingo. These are slot machines, plain and simple.”
Owners of establishments running electronic bingo machines in other counties around the state did not seem concerned with the rulings in Walker and Jefferson counties, as each county’s constitutional amendment legalizing bingo is different. In total, 16 Alabama counties have passed amendments allowing non-profit or charity organizations to run bingo operations.
“My understanding is that counties that have legalized bingo have a lot of leeway in how they regulate it,” Lanoue said. “Regulations are not identical from county to county.”
Lanoue said arguments over this issue have a moral background for some, but it is also a legal issue at its basis. In addition, there are those who argue the economic benefits of gambling in the state.
Lanoue said a lot of people think we should try and keep money in Alabama that we lose to gambling opportunities in neighboring states such as Mississippi and Louisiana. The governor takes a somewhat moral standpoint on the issue, Lanoue said, while King tackles it from a legal standpoint.
“It is a political issue for some, an economic issue for others and a moral issue,” Lanoue said. “All those things kind of collide here.”
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