Alabama House Minority Leader, Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden), filed legislation Tuesday that would allow the people of Alabama to vote on a statewide lottery for education. If approved by voters, the proceeds from the lottery would be used to fund scholarships to Alabama’s two-year and four-year colleges.

“This is the same lottery bill I have introduced every year for the last seven years,” Ford said. “I believe there’s more support now than ever before for a lottery, but we have to make sure we do it the right way.”

The online newsletter, Inside Alabama Politics, reported last week that some Republican legislators plan to introduce a lottery bill that only addresses the legality of the lottery and does not specify how the lottery will be run or, most importantly, how the proceeds will be spent.

“I’ve talked with people all over the state. They want a lottery, but they don’t want it for prisons or Medicaid,” said Ford. “Almost every single person I’ve talked to says they’ll vote against it if it’s not an education lottery.”