Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a compromise on gambling legislation that would authorize a state lottery and multiple sites with electronic gambling machines. But the measure faces an uncertain outlook in the closing days of the legislative session.

A conference committee approved the two-bill proposal as lawmakers aim to put the issue to a statewide vote this August. Lawmakers in the Alabama House of Representatives and Alabama Senate could vote on the measure as soon as Tuesday evening. It will take three-fifths of lawmakers to approve the proposed change to the Alabama Constitution to allow gambling. If approved, it will go to a statewide vote on Aug. 20.

ALABAMA LAWMAKERS ADVANCE BILL THAT COULD LEAD TO PROSECUTION OF LIBRARIANS

“I don’t know. The vote is close,” Republican Sen. Greg. Albritton, a conference committee member, said of the bill’s chances in the Senate. “It will be close probably in the House too.”

Republican Rep. Chris Blackshear, the bill sponsor, said the proposal would authorize a state lottery and allow “electronic games of chance,” but not table games at sites in seven counties. The locations would be the dog tracks in Macon, Jefferson, Greene and Mobile counties, plus locations in Lowndes and Houston counties. It would also require the governor to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, he said.

Blackshear said they removed language to authorize sports betting.

The legislation has been stalled since March when senators scaled back a sweeping House-passed plan that would have allowed a lottery, sports betting and up to 10 casinos with table games. Disagreements have included the referendum date, the number of casinos and whether sports betting should be allowed.

The House of Representatives will vote first on the proposal. Senate President Pro Tem Greg Reed said the Senate might take up the measure Tuesday night, but they first have to see what happens in the House.

Lawmakers are aiming for the first public vote on gambling in 25 years. Voters in 1999 rejected a lottery proposed by then-Gov. Don Siegelman.

The Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said fellow Republican officials refusing to abide by the Biden administration’s revisions to Title IX “undermines the rule of law.”

“I don’t think it’s ever a good idea to skip the legal process,” Skrmetti told Fox News Digital. 

Instead of defying Biden’s law changes, Skrmetti and Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman are fighting back “hard” in the court system.

Skrmetti’s comments came after he and Coleman announced on Tuesday that they are leading six states in suing the Department of Education due to the overhaul of Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act. The other states joining Tennessee and Kentucky are Indiana, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. 

Court documents show further that the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. 

BIDEN DISMANTLES TRUMP-ERA TITLE IX RULES, SIDESTEPS ISSUE OF TRANS ATHLETES IN GIRLS’ SPORTS

The Biden administration unveiled new rules aimed at safeguarding LGBTQ+ students and changing the ways in which sexual harassment and assault claims are adjudicated on campus.

Under the new rules, sex discrimination includes discrimination based on gender identity as well as sexual orientation. A school must not separate or treat people differently based on sex, except in limited circumstances, under the provisions and critics say that the change will allow locker rooms and bathrooms to be based on gender identity.

LGBTQ+ students who face discrimination will be entitled to a response from their school under Title IX, and those failed by their schools can seek recourse from the federal government.

Missing from the new rule, however, is a policy forbidding schools from enacting outright bans on transgender athletes competing against biological females.

Other GOP state officials, like Texas Gov. Greg Abott, are taking action against the Title IX changes outside the court system. 

Abbott announced that his state would not be implementing changes to Title IX protections. In a letter sent to the White House on Monday, Abbott rebuked the Biden administration’s expansion of Title IX protections to protect “gender identity.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his state will not be implementing changes to Title IX protections propagated by President Biden’s administration. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

GOP LAWMAKERS SLAM BIDNE ADMINISTRATION’S NEW TITLE IX PROTECTIONS FOR ‘GENDER IDENTITY’

Furthermore, GOP leaders in Oklahoma and Florida are telling schools not to conform to President Biden’s changes to Title IX policies.

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters announced Thursday morning that he has instructed schools within his state not to comply with the Biden administration’s changes to Title IX, which include gender identity protection.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Skrmetti said that the U.S. is “based on the rule of law” and that “the constitution is our law.”

“The court system is there to resolve these disputes. So if the federal government does something unconstitutional, the right thing to do is get the courts to declare it unconstitutional,” Skrmetti said.

He explained that ignoring the law, no matter regardless of political affiliation, “undermines the rule of law and ultimately threatens our federal system.”

“That said – I think this rule is illegal for a number of very significant reasons, and we are going to fight hard to make sure that the courts say so,” Skrmetti added.

In response to the mounting legal challenges to the Biden administration’s revisions to Title IX, the Department of Education sent Fox News Digital a statement saying that “the Department does not comment on pending litigation.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Skrmetti said Biden’s move is part of “consistent with other overreach by the administration.”

“This rule is illegitimately overreaching what the statute authorizes; It is in conflict with the laws of Tennessee, and it’s just an unconstitutional overreach in several ways by the federal government,” Skrmetti said. “If we win this first, we’re, we’re going to get an injunction that will say that these rules do not apply to the dependency of the case. And then, ultimately, if we win, the court will set aside the rule and say it is unconstitutional and is not valid – does not have any bearing on anybody. 

“And the rule will effectively cease to exist,” he added.

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The Department of Education sent Fox News Digital a statement saying the department went through a “rigorous process” on the new rules. 

“The Department crafted the final Title IX regulations following a rigorous process to give complete effect to the Title IX statutory guarantee that no person experiences sex discrimination in federally-funded education,” the statement reads. “As a condition of receiving federal funds, all federally-funded schools are obligated to comply with these final regulations, and we look forward to working with school communities all across the country to ensure the Title IX guarantee of nondiscrimination in school is every student’s experience.”

Florida recently overtook New York as the nation’s third-largest state.

With a booming population of 22 million and growing, the Sunshine State is making considerable investments in its public institutions of higher learning, while private universities are also seeing surging enrollment.

Here is a look at some of the top universities in Florida based on enrollment rates.

FLORIDA PERMANENTLY BANS FUNDING FOR DEI IN STATE SCHOOLS

University of Florida

Long famous for its legendary football program, the University of Florida now boasts an impressive academic record, and entrance is extremely competitive, with an acceptance rate of just 23%.

Located in northern Florida in Gainesville, it is the flagship school of the State University System of Florida. As the fifth-largest university in the country, it features over 57,000 students studying at 16 academic colleges.

Additionally, it offers numerous graduate programs, including medicine, pharmacy, engineering, law, business administration and dentistry.

Florida State University

Founded in 1851, Florida State University is located in Florida’s capital, Tallahassee.

Comprised of 16 colleges, it features a student body of over 45,000 hailing from all 50 states and 130 countries. It has an annual budget of $2.2 billion, and its athletics programs have won 20 NCAA Division I national championships. It currently offers 104 baccalaureate programs, 112 master’s degree programs, and 70 doctoral programs.

University of Miami

The University of Miami is a private research university, located in the Coral Gables neighborhood of Miami.

The university enrollment stands at nearly 20,000 students, and the school is the second-largest employer in Miami-Dade County. Like UF and FSU, it is renowned for its athletics programs, particularly football, in which it has won five national championships. Admission is highly competitive, with a 2023 acceptance rate of 18.5%.

University of Miami plays at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Samuel Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

University of Central Florida

Formerly known as Florida Technical University, the University of Central Florida is located near Orlando in unincorporated Orange County and features a study body of over 68,000.

It is particularly strong in science, technology, engineering and math, with a historical relationship with the U.S. Space Program at the nearby Kennedy Sapce Center. Located 13 miles east of downtown Orlando, the school features 230 degrees across 13 colleges.

Heavily research-focused, it is known for corporate partnerships with major companies, including Disney, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, SpaceX and Universal.

FLORIDA RANKS NO. 1 IN EDUCATION FREEDOM FOR COMBATTING WOKENESS, SUPPORTING PARENTAL RIGHTS: NEW STUDY

Florida International University

Florida International University, a research university commonly known as FIU, was founded in 1965 by the state legislature and is located in Miami-Dade County.

Being the third-largest university in the state, it has a budget of over $1.7 billion and has invested more than $1 billion in research expenditures in the past five years. It has over 45,000 undergraduate students and 10,000 graduate students. FIU offers 60 baccalaureate programs, 81 master’s programs and 34 doctoral programs. It features a student body from every state, including a considerable international student population, with the largest student groups coming from Venezuela, China, Kuwait, India, Brazil, and Cuba.

Students on campus at the Florida International University in Miami. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Florida Atlantic University

Florida Atlantic University is a public research university in Boca Raton, with 180 undergraduate and graduate programs across 10 colleges.

Its 30,000 students hail from all 50 states and 180 countries. The school consistently ranks as one of the most diverse in the nation, and it receives high marks for its two featured honors programs: the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College and the University Scholars Program.

FLORIDA CUTTING SOCIOLOGY AS CORE HIGHER EDUCATION COURSE SPARKS OUTRAGE: ‘NO EVIDENTIARY BASIS’

Florida A&M University

Florida A&M, located in Tallahassee, is a historically Black land-grant school, founded in 1887.

It is the third-largest historically Black university in the nation, and its creation was promoted by prominent abolitionist and Florida legislator Jonathan C. Gibbs. It offers 54 bachelor’s degrees, 29 master’s degrees, and 12 doctoral programs, and competes in NCAA Division I in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

University of South Florida

The University of South Florida was founded in 1956, with its flagship campus in Tampa.

Additionally, it has satellite campuses in St. Petersburg and Sarasota. Its 14 colleges feature over 240 undergraduate and graduate level programs. The fourth-largest school in the state, its 50,000 student body comes from all 50 states and 145 countries.

Known for its cutting edge research, the USF community boasts over 2,400 patents, while the National Academy of Inventors and the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame are located on school grounds.

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