One of two lottery bills proposed in the Alabama legislature this year is headed for a procedural vote before the Senate Marketing and Tourism Committee Tuesday – if it gets a favorable report from the committee, it could go before the full Senate as early as Thursday.

The bill headed to the committee comes from Alabama Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, and calls for the state to establish a paper-ticket lottery.

Another bill from Alabama Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, would establish a paper-ticket lottery in the state but also allow for electronic games at dog tracks in the state.

Albritton’s bill has the backing of Senate Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, who chairs the Senate Marketing and Tourism Committee.

If the legislation clears the Senate this week, it will be forwarded on to the Alabama House of Representatives – if lawmakers sign off on the legislation there, it will head to the citizens for a vote.

Alabama Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier, D-Selma, did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but Alabama Rep. Prince Chestnut, D-Selma, is anxious to see the bill land in his chamber.

“We should have supported the lottery during the [Governor Don] Siegelman or [Governor Bob] Riley administrations,” Chestnut said. “Yet, it’s never too late to do the right thing.”

Because both of the bills generated in the Alabama Senate, Chestnut noted that he and many House colleagues have not had the opportunity to go over the legislation with a fine-tooth comb.

However, Chestnut supports the concept and believes Alabama would have been wise to approve a lottery years ago.

“Generically, I will say that we should have been first instead of last in the Southeast for pursuing a state-wide lottery,” Chestnut said. “When you are first, you reap the rewards and benefits for taking those risks. You can use the revenue for education, public safety and even healthcare.”

Chestnut noted that there is no way to know where the state would be today if it had taken the bold step of approving a lottery when it was first introduced more than 10 years ago.

“Now, we are the last belle at the dance,” Chestnut said.

According to the Florida Lottery website, the effort has contributed more than $1 billion annually to the state’s education program for the last 16 years and a combined $35 billion since 1988.

Georgia’s lottery generated more than $1.14 billion for education last year and Tennessee’s lottery has generated nearly $5 billion for education since its inception, according to each state’s lottery website.