However many Democrats and some Republicans believed that a state lottery would have been the way to go. Lottery proponents have argued for years that Alabamians are playing the lottery by crossing state lines; resulting in the state missing out on tax revenue that could be used to fund various education initiatives or patch the hole in the General Fund budget. By instituting its own state lottery, Alabama would retain the money that is currently being spent on lottery tickets in all of the border states that are benefiting from Alabama not having its own lottery. Although Governor Bentley doesn’t oppose a lottery, he points out that it would take years before citizens could approve it and the infrastructure could be set up. Coincidently,
