Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed has been the topic of rumors circulating around the state capitol in regards to his potential retirement in the near future. For advocates of limited government, Reed's departure could not come soon enough as his record of failed leadership has been an unmitigated disaster for conservative legislation advancing in the state house. One need look no further than the glaring example of Reed's collusion with Democrats in the effort to kill conservative bills in the senate during the 2023 legislative session which was chronicled extensively in the following Examiner article;
Reed was front and center yet again in the casino expansion debacle which recently played itself out shambolically as the hot mess of gambling legislation which went down in flames in a failed senate vote. In the aftermath of this political dumpster fire which even its most ardent supporters were all to eager to distance themselves from, Reed along with his perpetual partner in crime Democrat Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton still remain bullish on casino expansion in the coming years. In case anyone might be inclined to doubt Reed's foolhardy propensity for doubling and tripling down on the future of casino expansion, a recent AL.com article brought an end to any and all dubiety on the matter. Adhering to the old proverb that it is "better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt" would have been a wiser course for Reed, alas he has proven himself to be a hopeless case for all time.
Following are some choice excerpts from the article which truly exemplify why Reed is literally leading Alabama down the highway to hell in what is shaping up to be a 21st century trail of tears for conservative voters;
Gambling and lottery bills in Alabama are like the antagonist of a horror flick: Just when the monster seems to be dead, they return to find more victims during the sequels.
But after this year’s gambling and lottery monster seemingly died this spring, some public officials seem to be OK with putting the beast away for the remainder of this year. And to some, they would prefer to keep the monster contained in 2025, as well.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said on Thursday she is not interested in calling a special session to revive the issue, and lawmakers are taking her word for it.
“This has been a bloody battle this whole session,” said Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, who was the Senate sponsor of the version that advanced out of a legislative conference committee It was approved by the Alabama House but defeated by a single vote in the Senate on April 30.
“It’s affected us from the first day to the last (day of session),” Albritton said. “There are damaged relationships all up and down the line over this.”
Alabama Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Reed, R-Jasper, said he anticipates the issue being revisited in 2025.
“Do I anticipate that legislation will once again come from members of the Alabama Senate or House related to the topic of gaming? I do,” he said.
Senator Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, is even more optimistic. He believes that if Ivey calls a special session this summer, the existing package that died by a single vote would pass.
“I think we can put together a package that can bring people on board,” Singleton said. “And bring that one vote on. I really do.”
Ivey, who told reporters Thursday she was “disappointed” with the Legislature on the issue, said she was not interested in the expense and time of calling a special session on gambling and lottery.
“Why would I do that?” Ivey said.
“I agree with the governor on this,” said Sen. Chris Elliott, R-Josephine, who was one of the “No” votes on the conference committee’s package, but who voted in support of a scaled-back plan the Senate had in early March that included a lottery, but no sports betting and three casinos operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians (PCI). The House version, first passed in February, included a lottery, 10 casinos – including four operated by PCI – and legal sports betting.
Elliott said he voted against the final version on the Senate floor out of concerns over widespread electronic casino gambling in Alabama – the conference committee’s version included seven new casinos, but no sports betting -- and legislative language he said was aimed at Medicaid expansion, public transportation, and host of what he called other “gimmicks.”
“There is no point in calling a special session when the votes are not there to pass what it is you want to pass,” said Elliott. “We just got out of a session where the votes weren’t there to pass it. It would be a giant waste of time, and energy and taxpayer money.”
Singleton said that by 2026, it might not be politics that forces the issue, but a lack of revenue from federal sources.
“I think that after 2026, when all this federal (COVID) money is gone, when we start to being short on our budgets, it’s going to show,” he said. “And then we’re going to be wishing that we had done this. And we’re going to be in that sense of urgency, and I think that we’ll get it passed.”
Reed said whatever happens, the monster will linger in the halls of the State House for the foreseeable future – whether a new piece of gambling and lottery legislation is introduced or not.
“I’ve been in the Legislature for 14 years, and it’s with us every year,” he said. “Is it a topic of significance? Yes.”
If this article is to be believed, Reed and Singleton have found themselves in a lonesome place together by choosing to die on the hill of casino expansion. Stepping down would be a wonderful decision for Reed to arrive at, still, that leads to further questions for the mind to ponder. Who would replace him? What sort of leader would emerge in Reed's place? More saliently, would Senator Randy Price and Senator Jay Hovey from the Lee County delegation sign off on whichever big government goon the downtown Birmingham cartel picks out from the crowd. Sad to say, we may already know the dispiriting answers to these questions.
To be replaced by another big govt./traditional Republocrat? Getting rid of our most deleterious politburo members (e.g., Hubbard, Ham, Long in Lee Co.) is like weeding the garden... the job is never done