{"id":321483,"date":"2024-06-03T10:08:35","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=321483"},"modified":"2024-06-03T10:13:40","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T15:13:40","slug":"alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Encourages Lawmakers to Authorize Gambling"},"content":{"rendered":"

The top official overseeing Alabama’s pension fund is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey (R) to initiate a special legislative session to continue talks about casino gambling<\/a> authorization that stalled in the Montgomery capital earlier this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Alabama
Retirement Systems of Alabama CEO David Bronner thinks allowing commercial casinos and other forms of gambling in the Cotton State could provide critical tax money that might be used to provide state retirees with a cost-of-living-adjustment. Gaming talks stalled earlier this year in Montgomery. (Image: Bham Now<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

David Bronner is the chief executive officer at the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), the pension fund program for state employee retirees. One of the world’s largest internally funded pension programs, the RSA is perhaps best known for developing the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, 11 golf courses spread across the state. Bronner was instrumental in the golf destination’s development.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bronner is looking for new funding sources and thinks lawmakers who this year supported efforts to bring a lottery, commercial casinos, and sports betting to the state are on the right path.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, the gaming package compromise reached by a special legislative committee failed to pass the state Senate<\/a> this month by a single vote. The House had easily passed the gaming bill with the needed three-fifths majority support.<\/span><\/p>\n

Special Session Warranted<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Writing in the RSA’s June newsletter, The Advisor<\/i>, Bronner says Alabamans participating in the state pension program haven’t received a cost-of-living-adjustment in 18 years. The additional state tax streams that lottery and casino gaming<\/a> would deliver could help boost the pension payouts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

After the one-vote loss in the Senate, the most popular Alabama governor in my lifetime was asked about a special session, to which she replied, ‘Why would I do that?’ Simply put, because you can accomplish it,” Bronner wrote in calling on Ivey to initiate a special session to push the gaming bill across the finish line.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Ivey has been supportive of bringing slot machines, table games, sports betting, and a lottery to the Cotton State. But the governor said this month following the Senate gridlock<\/a> that she won’t waste tax dollars on a special gaming session when lawmakers “cannot come to a consensus among themselves.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bronner says recent tax cuts made by the Legislature<\/a> on groceries and overtime pay, as well as various tax credits, including $100 million for school vouchers, means less revenue for the state’s pension system.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“Antigaming folks might suggest increasing Alabama’s property taxes, which are the lowest in America, to replace this revenue, but this has been impossible to accomplish in the past,” Bronner continued. He concluded by encouraging RSA enrollees to ask the state lawmakers who voted against the gaming bill “how they plan to address the state’s problems without any new revenue in light of the recent tax cuts and loss of federal monies.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Gaming Holdout<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Legislative efforts to bring new forms of gaming to Alabama have persisted nearly every year since 1999 when state voters rejected a ballot referendum that would have created a state-run lottery. Alabama today remains free of a lottery, commercial casinos, racinos, sports betting, and iGaming.<\/span><\/p>\n

The only permissible forms of gaming are charitable games of chance, parimutuel wagering, and Class II Indian gaming. The state’s lone federally recognized tribe, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, runs three tribal casinos where electronic bingo-based games that resemble traditional casino slot machines operate.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alabama’s pension system administrator says casinos could provide a fundraising boost for retirees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":321491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,61],"tags":[81997,13598,13628,13701,91111,80968,83007],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-03T15:08:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-03T15:13:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@CasinoorgDevinO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Devin O'Connor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/\",\"name\":\"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-03T15:08:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-03T15:13:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\"},\"description\":\"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"Retirement Systems of Alabama CEO David Bronner thinks allowing commercial casinos and other forms of gambling in the Cotton State could provide critical tax money that might be used to provide state retirees with a cost-of-living-adjustment. Gaming talks stalled earlier this year in Montgomery. (Image: Bham Now)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Encourages Lawmakers to Authorize Gambling\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf\",\"name\":\"Devin O'Connor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Devin O'Connor\"},\"description\":\"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push","description":"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push","og_description":"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-06-03T15:08:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-03T15:13:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Devin O'Connor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CasinoorgDevinO","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Devin O'Connor","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/","name":"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Backs Gambling Push","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg","datePublished":"2024-06-03T15:08:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-03T15:13:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf"},"description":"The top official at Alabama's pension system is calling on Gov. Kay Ivey to initiate a special legislative session to continue gambling talks.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/ACRECom2023_20230217_131325-2-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"Retirement Systems of Alabama CEO David Bronner thinks allowing commercial casinos and other forms of gambling in the Cotton State could provide critical tax money that might be used to provide state retirees with a cost-of-living-adjustment. Gaming talks stalled earlier this year in Montgomery. (Image: Bham Now)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/alabama-pension-fund-administrator-backs-gaming\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Alabama Pension Fund Administrator Encourages Lawmakers to Authorize Gambling"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/02b4fee8814a4003903b0021bffb4ebf","name":"Devin O'Connor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-4-1-96x96.png","caption":"Devin O'Connor"},"description":"Devin O'Connor is a senior reporter for Casino.org, covering politics, casino business, entertainment and gaming news on the East Coast. Devin's passion for politics and background in the world of pop culture television gives him insight into the gaming industry backstories that often drive news these days. After graduating from Penn State University with a theater arts degree, he worked at MTV Networks\/Viacom from 2005 to 2010 as a writer and producer. His credits included Total Request Live, New Year's Eve specials, and a special featuring poker superstar Daniel Negreanu. He later moved on to the HGTV\/DIY Network, where he created, wrote, and produced three series specials: That's So House Hunters, That's So 80s, and That's So 90s. Devin came on board with Casino.org in 2014. He lives in Pennsylvania and is an avid marathoner, having completed 15 races. Contact Devin at devin.oconnor@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/devinoconnor\/","https:\/\/x.com\/CasinoorgDevinO"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/devin-oconnor\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":321497,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321483\/revisions\/321497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/321491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}