Alabama May Finally Vote on adding the Lottery as Residents Keep Crossing State Lines to Play

One of the last states in the country without a lottery may be inching toward a change. Alabama is one of only five U.S. states with no lottery of its own, and its residents have long dealt with that the obvious way: by driving across the state line to buy their tickets somewhere else. This week that habit made headlines again, and it has lawmakers talking.

The spark was a big win just over the border. An Alabama player walked away with $720,000 on a winning Cash ticket bought at TNT Beer and Tobacco in Ardmore, Tennessee, a store that sits right on the line and draws a steady stream of Alabamians.

A lawmaker signals a possible vote

State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur) told WAFF 48 that legislators may form a new lottery initiative within the next two years, which could end Alabama’s long absence from the game.

"When you have a new legislature, you have a lot of new members, so things may have moved around politically regarding that issue," Orr said. "So, we’ll see what happens."

The border economy Alabama built by not playing

Stores along the Tennessee-Alabama line have thrived on tickets Alabama does not sell. Tracy Meadows, an employee at the Ardmore shop who lives in Alabama himself, said the customer base reaches deep into the state.

"We got people coming from Birmingham, Cullman, Guntersville, driving a long ways just to see us," he said.

For the players, it is less a fun road trip than a chore. Glenn Burkard, a TNT customer and Alabama resident, said the drive adds up.

"It’s very inconvenient," Burkard said. "And the fuel economy nowadays, you can’t hardly afford to do it."

The case supporters make

Both men said a home-state lottery would help Alabama and its residents, pointing especially to schools. Every state that borders Alabama already runs a lottery, and Tennessee alone has funneled more than $8 billion in proceeds into education over the years.

"For the state, it could do tons of things, especially for the education, which is definitely needed real bad," Burkard said. "It would benefit a lot of folks, no doubt about it," Meadows added.

Bigger jackpots, more trips across the line

The timing is not helping Alabama’s case for staying out. The Mega Millions jackpot stands at $743 million ahead of Friday night’s drawing, and Powerball is at $567 million for Wednesday. When the grand prizes climb into the hundreds of millions, the parking lots at border stores fill up, and the argument that Alabama is simply exporting its lottery money grows a little louder. Whether that finally turns into a vote is, as the senator put it, a we-will-see.

Sources

WAFF 48: Alabamians cross state line to play lottery as jackpots climb, lawmakers weigh future vote