Alabama State Sen. Del Marsh’s gambling and lottery bill is off the table as a possible solution for the state’s budget shortfall.

Marsh announced that he would not push a statewide gambling and lottery bill during the legislature’s upcoming second special session, as Gov. Robert Bentley called the bill a distraction for legislators trying to resolve the budget shortfall. Taking gambling out of the picture leaves the Legislature with three choices: cut General Fund departments, raise taxes, or shift revenue from the Education Trust Fund.

“I’m not going to introduce a gaming bill because the governor seems to want to use that as an excuse, and I’m not going to give him one,” said Marsh.

Marsh also said that he will still decide whether he will reintroduce his gambling legislation during the next regular session which will start in February.