Alabama needs to expand gaming as soon as possible.

 This week, lawmakers in Alabama told the media that a conference group working to reach a deal for more gambling would meet on April 24 at 2:00 p.m. local time.  As early as Wednesday morning, though, the meeting was no longer on the agenda for the day.
 capital city of Alabama Montgomery
 Calling the Alabama House of Representatives confirmed that the meeting would not happen on April 24, 2019, and there would be no new date set.  Now, the session is set to end on May 5.  Then politicians will have a little more than a week to come up with a plan to allow more gambling in Alabama.  After that, it will need to be approved by both the house and the senate.

 If passed, the people would decide if any new gambling areas should be allowed.  The bill in the house would put the question on the ballot in November.  In the Senate version, there would be a special election in September.

 In the past, gambling bills that don't get support early in the session almost never make it to the governor's desk.  Just this year, on the last day of the Georgia general assembly, lawmakers gave almost hourly updates on a plan to allow sports betting.  The bill never made it to the floor of either house.  And with only a week left in the Maryland session, lawmakers mostly gave up on the idea of a legal online casino.

 One lawmaker says that the talks have been "useful."
 In the Alabama House, Representative Chris Blackshear has pushed for the expansion. On Wednesday, he told the Alabama Reflector that the conference committee had "several productive meetings."  He also said that there would be a public meeting of the conference committee "when both sides are comfortable doing so."

 The Senators are Greg Albritton, Bobby Singleton, and Garlan Gudger, and the Representatives are Blackshear, Sam Jones, and Andy Whitt.  They've been talking behind closed doors.

 No one knows what the group will suggest, if anything.  The house passed a broad gambling increase at the start of the session.  This would have made room for a lottery, up to 10 real-life casinos, and both in-person and online sports betting.  AL is one of only five states that doesn't have a lotto.

 The Senate threw out Alabama's bill to allow more gaming.
 The main bill that sets the rules for any new gaming went through the house in just one week in February.  Before it passed the senate floor on March 7, it was taken apart by several committees. The only thing that was left was the draw.  The bill was sent back to the house to be agreed upon, but it was turned down. This is when the conference committee was formed.

 It's not a given that the conference group will agree on something.  The bill passed the house, but the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which already runs three casinos in the state, did not fully support the version that was sent to the senate. This version would allow some gambling at state racetracks and bingo rooms.  This would go against the tribe's right to be alone.

 During discussions in the Senate, members of the Black caucus also said they had been left out of talks that would have affected their areas.  Religious and anti-gambling groups have also kept up their efforts to stop any kind of growth.