State legislators are moving toward changing the state constitution to demand a public vote before any gambling for profit can be legalized in Alaska.

The idea is to blunt an initiative that’s set to appear on the August statewide ballot. The initiative would create a commission with the power to authorize gambling — from lotteries to casino games — without the Legislature’s approval.

The state House voted 33-6 in favor of the constitutional amendment this week. It goes to the Senate, where Judiciary Committee Chairman Hollis French thinks it has a real shot at passing even with just four days left in the legislative session.

If the Senate does pass the constitutional amendment in time and the governor signs it, the idea would go to voters for approval in the November election. That’s presumably before the gaming commission could get set up and act.

“I want this to go into the constitution, that people will always have a say,” said Anchorage Democratic Rep. Harry Crawford, a longtime foe of expanding gambling who sponsored the measure with Eagle River Republican Rep. Nancy Dahlstrom.

Currently, it is up to the Legislature to decide whether to allow gambling beyond the limited number of pull-tabs, bingo, ice classics, pools, raffles and the like that are now legal to benefit nonprofits. Recent years have seen fights in the Legislature over whether to expand what’s allowed to include video poker, a casino, lotteries or card rooms. In the end, the Legislature refused to do so.

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Recovered from the Poker Players Alliance archive index. This is the archived item as preserved.