The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday received a Senate-passed gambling measure that had morphed from one entirely focused on a state lottery into an umbrella bill with the lottery, casinos and sports betting.

The bill got a first reading and was sent to the tourism committee.

This is the twisted trail of a legislative effort to enhance state revenues without directly imposing new taxes.

The first gambling effort, sponsored by Sen. Del Marsh, R-Anniston, called for casinos where sports betting would have been included.

Because it would have created a statewide referendum to amend the Alabama Constitution of 1901, passage required a three-fifths vote of the Senate. It failed by two votes.

That’s when a bill by Sen. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, calling for a lottery alone was introduced. That proposed constitutional amendment passed Tuesday with the required number of votes, after being held over to add casinos and sports betting to it.

As McClendon put it: “After all Del Marsh’s hard work, I get all the credit.”

He said his initial purpose was “so people wouldn’t have to cross the dadgum state line to buy a lottery ticket.”

McClendon stressed that, because the proposal would be a constitutional amendment, “the people have the final say.” If the House approves it, the referendum will be on the ballot in the 2022 statewide election cycle.

The measure sent to the House sets a requirement that licenses for the casinos be awarded by bid. Casinos and sports betting sites are to be in Jefferson, Mobile, Macon, Greene, Houston and either Jackson or DeKalb counties, as well as three sites owned by the Poarch Creek Indians.

Also making the revised gambling package more palatable for the Senate was the establishment of minimum bids for licenses: Jefferson, $35 million; Macon, $20 million; and others, $5 million.

An amendment offered by Sen. Dan Roberts, R-Mountain Brook, raised the tax on slots and electronic bingo to 27% of net revenue and on table games to 35%. The proposed constitutional amendment now in the House would earmark 65% of the state’s revenue from gambling, up to $750 million, for broadband, 25% for rural health care and 10% for mental health.

The House has not historically been a friendly climate for gambling legislation, but the revenue aspects of this effort may work in its favor. Also in its favor is that the governor has expressed a favorable opinion on its potential as a new source of revenue.

On the other hand, the Alabama Republican Assembly already has come out against the proposal.

The last time Alabama voters considered a gambling amendment was in 1999, when then-Gov. Don Siegelman’s lottery proposal went down in flames.