ATLANTA – A proposed constitutional amendment the state Senate passed late last month letting Georgia voters decide whether to legalize sports betting got its first hearing in the state House of Representatives Monday.
While Georgia lawmakers have considered bills in recent years calling for legalizing sports betting by statute without changing the state Constitution, a statewide referendum should be the preferred route for the General Assembly, Sen. Bill Cowsert, the legislation’s chief sponsor told members of the House Higher Education Committee.
“When you have this major a policy shift, the public ought to be allowed a buy-in, to vote on it,” said Cowsert, R-Athens.
The constitutional amendment would create a gaming commission overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corp. to regulate sports betting. The state would receive 20% of the adjusted gross revenues sports betting generates.
Of that amount, 80% would be dedicated to Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs. Fifteen percent would go into a fund to educate Georgians about the dangers of problem gambling.
While the other 5% would be used to market sporting events to be held in Georgia, committee Chairman Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, said Monday that he plans to remove that provision from the measure. He said those organizations interested in state support for sports marketing should be required to compete for those funds through the budget process.
Cowsert said setting aside dedicated funding for prevention and treatment of problem gambling is an approach few states that have legalized sports betting have taken.
“Young males are especially (likely) to become compulsive gamers,” he said.
While some supporters of sports betting have predicted it could generate up to $100 million or more each year in Georgia, Cowsert said it likely won’t produce more than $50 million in annual revenue.
That prompted some committee members to ask why the state would bother with legalizing the industry.
“Constituents want it. The sports teams want it,” Cowsert answered. “You don’t do this for the money.”
However, Cowsert went on to argue that sports betting would help promote fan interest in Atlanta’s pro sports teams, which have been among the legislation’s strongest backers.
“The teams want it badly,” he said. “Viewers of sports are more engaged if they have money on the game.”
The constitutional amendment is accompanied by an “enabling” bill, which the Senate also passed last month. The enabling measure includes details of how sports betting would be regulated in Georgia, including the process for awarding licenses to bookmakers.
Time is running short for both measures. The 2024 General Assembly session will wrap up next week.
ATLANTA – Legislation legalizing sports betting in Georgia that the state Senate passed last month got its first hearing Tuesday in the state House of Representatives.
Under Senate Bill 386, the Georgia Lottery Corp. would oversee sports betting, awarding licenses to 16 sports betting providers, Sen. Clint Dixon, R-Buford, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the House Higher Education Committee.
Five licenses would go to Atlanta’s professional sports teams: the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Dream and Atlanta United. The Augusta National Golf Club, the Professional Golf Association (PGA), and the Atlanta Motor Speedway would receive one license each.
The other seven “untethered” licenses would be open to sports betting providers through a bidding process. The lottery corporation also would receive one license.
The bill would dedicate 20% of the adjusted gross revenues derived from sports betting to Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs.
The original version of the Senate measure called for legalizing sports betting without a constitutional amendment that would put the issue before Georgia voters in a statewide referendum. But an amendment was added to the bill on the Senate floor requiring a constitutional amendment before sports betting could become law.
The Senate also has passed a sports betting constitutional amendment in a separate resolution. It differs from Senate Bill 386 in several respects, including a provision setting aside a portion of the tax revenue from sports betting for an education program on the dangers of problem gambling.
During Monday’s hearing on the bill, both committee members and lobbyists suggested changes to Senate Bill 386, including a provision that would add fantasy sports to the mix.
Stuart Wilkinson, director of government affairs for Atlanta-based PrizePicks, a fantasy sports operator, said adding fantasy sports could generate $40 million to $50 million a year in Georgia on top of the estimated $100 million sports betting could be expected to raise in the Peach State annually.
Rep. Kasey Carpenter, R-Dalton, said the House should consider limiting the number of wagers a bettor could make over a daily or weekly period as a way to address problem gambling.
“This kind of protection will go a long way to addressing problem gambling,” he said.
Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, said any funds put toward problem gambling should come from the sports betting operators, not out of the state’s share of the proceeds.
“I don’t think it should come out of the money the state is going to get,” he said. “It ought to come our of their hide.”
Representatives of several faith-based groups spoke out in opposition to legalizing sports betting. They argued sports betting is a particularly addictive form of gambling that tends to prey upon young men.
“This kind of gambling is nothing more than state-sponsored predatory gambling,” said Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
Paul Smith, executive director of the Christian public policy organization Citizen Impact, said the odds in any referendum on sports betting would be stacked against the opponents of legalized gambling.
“If it does go to the voters … history tells us the gambling industry will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to convince Georgians this is good for Georgia,” he said.
The committee did not vote on the bill Tuesday. Committee Chairman Chuck Martin, R-Alpharetta, said lawmakers have a lot of work ahead to make sure Dixon’s bill jives with the language in Senate Resolution 579, the constitutional amendment passed by the Senate.
ATLANTA – A proposed constitutional amendment calling for a statewide referendum on whether to legalize sports betting in Georgia cleared the state Senate Tuesday.
Senate Resolution 579 passed 41-12, garnering three more votes than the minimum two-thirds majority required to approve constitutional amendments in the General Assembly. Combined with an enabling bill specifying how sports betting would operate that the Senate passed earlier this month, Tuesday’s vote marked the most progress legalized gambling has made in a years-long effort in the legislature.
Under the legislation, sports betting would be overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corporation through a newly created gaming commission.
The enabling bill calls for the awarding of 16 licenses to online sports betting providers. Five would go to Atlanta’s professional sports teams: the Braves, Falcons, Hawks, Dream, and Atlanta United. The Augusta National Golf Club, the Professional Golf Association (PGA), and the Atlanta Motor Speedway would receive one license each.
Seven licenses would be open to sports betting providers through an application process overseen by lottery officials. The lottery corporation also would receive one license.
The vast majority of the tax revenue derived from sports betting – 80% – would go toward education with an emphasis on Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program. Another 15% would fund an education program on the dangers of problem gambling, and the final 5% would be used to promote major sporting events in Georgia.
During years of debate in the General Assembly over legalized gambling, a key issue of contention has been whether a constitutional amendment is necessary or whether it can be done through general law.
Georgia voters deserve the right to decide whether to bring sports betting to the Peach State, Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, Senate Resolution 579’s chief sponsor, said during Tuesday’s floor debate.
“It’s politically appropriate to let the people vote,” he said.
“I trust the people of Georgia to make the right decision,” added Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, one of the resolution’s cosponsors.
After some senators questioned the proposed sports marketing fund Tuesday, Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, said the state should contribute to a promotional effort that now is largely handled by the private sector.
“We’ve depended on the business community. … (But) you can only go to that well so much,” said Beach, another of the resolution’s cosponsors. “We need those funds if we want to be competitive.”
Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, who has consistently opposed legalized gambling, said the projected $125 million sports betting would generate for Georgia’s economy each year is minuscule compared to the $16 billion budget surplus the state has built up during the last three years.
“We have the money,” Harbin said. “We don’t need this.”
Both the enabling bill and the constitutional amendment are now in the Georgia House of Representatives’ court. Since the Senate has been leading the legalized gambling push in recent years, the fate of sports betting remains uncertain as the General Assembly heads into the final weeks of the 2024 session.
ATLANTA – Casinos are back on the table in the General Assembly.
The state Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee approved a proposed constitutional amendment late Thursday calling for Georgia voters to decide whether to legalize not only sports betting but casino gambling. Other gambling legislation before the General Assembly this year is limited to sports betting.
Casinos would produce much more economic impact than sports betting, Sen. Carden Summers, R-Cordele, chief sponsor of Senate Resolution 538, told committee members Thursday.
Georgians are already gambling in casinos, with more than 80,000 traveling to out-of-state casinos each year, Summers said. The rub is that the jobs and tax revenue those casinos generate don’t come back to Georgia.
Summers pointed to the funding the Georgia Lottery has generated for HOPE Scholarship and pre-kindergarten students as an example of what legalized gambling already has done for the Peach State.
“The lottery’s been wonderful for our children,” he said.
Under Senate Resolution 538, 50% of the tax revenue produced by sports betting and casinos would go toward transportation improvements. Another 20% would be dedicated to pre-kindergarten and child-care programs.
The other 30% would be divided equally among mental health and gambling addiction programs, rural health care, and Georgia’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Summers also noted that Georgia lawmakers have debated legalizing gambling for years, but none of the many bills on the issue has made it through the General Assembly.
“Let’s put this issue to bed,” he urged members of the committee. “I trust the people of Georgia to make this decision.”
Local political and business leaders from Columbus and Henry and Liberty counties spoke in support of the bill, citing the potential economic impact of casinos. Senate Resolution 538 calls for the construction of five casinos around the state.
But Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said talking about the economic benefits of legalized gambling ignores the social costs. He said casinos would be accompanied by a rise in addictive gambling, sex trafficking, and suicide.
“We can’t let money be the reason we do everything,” Griffin said. “We can’t let money be the ultimate moral standard.”
The resolution now moves to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
ATLANTA – A proposed constitutional amendment allowing Georgians to vote on whether to legalize sports betting in the Peach State has cleared a state Senate committee.
The Senate Regulated Industries Committee unanimously passed the bipartisan measure late Tuesday.
The legislation would create a gaming commission overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corp. to regulate sports betting.
Eighty percent of the tax revenue derived from sports betting would go toward Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and prekindergarten programs. Fifteen percent would be dedicated to programs to combat addictive gambling, and 5% would be used to attract and promote sporting events in the state, a provision sought by a coalition of Atlanta pro sports teams.
Some sports betting bills Georgia lawmakers have considered would not require a constitutional amendment. But supporters of Senate Resolution 579 said Tuesday changing the state Constitution would put sports betting on safer legal ground and assure buy-in from Georgia voters.
“You can never go wrong letting the voters have a vote,” Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, told members of the committee.
The legislation drew opposition Tuesday from members of faith-based groups and a former business professor from Illinois now retired to Georgia who has written extensively on the dangers associated with legalized gambling.
John Kindt said the medical community has declared gambling an addiction that is just as dangerous as narcotics.
“This is like legalizing heroin or cocaine,” he said.
Taylor Hawkins, director of advocacy for FrontLine Policy Action, a Christian advocacy group, said dedicating part of the tax revenue from sports betting to addressing problem gambling wouldn’t be enough to compensate for the damage legalized gambling would do to Georgians.
“That is like putting water in a bucket while you’re pouring gas on a fire,” he said.
The full Senate passed an “enabling” bill earlier this month setting the ground rules for sports betting should Georgia voters approve the constitutional amendment. While Senate Bill 386 was supported by 35 of the 56 senators, constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority of the Senate – 38 votes – to pass.
Senate Resolution 579 now heads to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
