Proposals for an education lottery and increased gambling revenue have been central to Ron Sparks' argument to become our next governor, so I felt strongly that we should try to get an accurate sense of exactly what he wants to do in those areas. The Lifestart Scholarship Lottery Sparks proposes would direct lottery proceeds to higher education.
Every high school student with a "C" or better average will be guaranteed a scholarship to a public Alabama University, two year college, or technical program of their choice. All others who graduate or earn a GED will be guaranteed a technical or trade education.
His gambling proposal would "regulate, tax and control" gambling in the state:
When I'm governor, we will establish a gaming commission that will regulate all gaming operations in the state. We will tax gambling and use the proceeds to support Medicaid, the Special Education Trust Fund, and to create a special relief fund for agriculture. And we will let the voters decide whether or not they want casinos in their county.
Sparks believes Alabama will face even more budget difficulties in 2011 and beyond, after the federal stimulus funds run out, so he is looking for ways to bring in additional revenue. Taxing and expanding gambling is the way he proposes to find that additional revenue stream. Follow below the fold to hear Commissioner Sparks talk about the lottery and gambling revenue in his own words.
Is expanded casino gambling Alabama's next great white hope (hat tip Rep. Lynn Jenkins) or the next bubble waiting to burst?
Gambling -- and not just the Lifestart education lottery, but expanded casino gambling -- has become the centerpiece of Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks' (D) gubernatorial campaign. He want's to "tax it, regulate it, and control it" but he also wants us to have more of it. Casinos on the banks of the Alabama River in Selma, casinos near the domed stadium (if any) in Birmingham, casinos in Montgomery and Mobile. In short, casinos just about everywhere except North Alabama.
The idea has no shortage of skeptics, such as the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer.
It's too early to know whether Alabama Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks is a viable candidate for governor or not. But he's running on a spectacularly bad idea for prettying up the state's grim fiscal picture: casino gambling.
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Up what progress and prosperity indexes has Mississippi rocketed since the casinos sprang up on the Gulf coast? How generously has the wealth been spread around in New Jersey since Atlantic City brought in the slots and blackjack tables? How has the money pouring into Vegas and Reno alleviated Nevada's record 12.5 percent unemployment rate?
What kinds of jobs, with what kinds of benefits, do casinos provide most of their workers, and how much do local economies reap from the gambling glitter domes that remake community landscapes?
OK. This is only to put a poll out there. LiA has a lot of traffic and the majority are citizens of Alabama. As such, hopefully we can get a good poll result out of this. I'm not going to phrase the question to try and influence anyone's decision. The question is twofold. Do you support gambling in other states? And would you support an Alabama lottery?
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This is the second post arising from an interview we conducted with Agriculture and Industries Commissioner 
