ATLANTA – Legislation that would make significant changes to regulations governing Georgia’s coin-operated amusement machines (COAM) got some pushback Monday from lobbyists representing the industry.
Senate Bill 217 doesn’t strike the proper balance between the owners of the machines and owners of the convenience stores where the machines are located, Les Schneider, representing the Georgia Amusement & Music Operators Association, told members of the Senate Regulated Industries & Utilities Committee.
Under the bill, any contract between a machine owner licensed by the Georgia Lottery Corp. and a new COAM location would run for one year. After that, contracts could be renewed only for one year or seven years.
“This is a three-legged stool,” Schneider said, referring to the lottery, machine owners and location owners. “There can not be a perception that locations are chattels to master license holders.”
The bill stems from a Senate study committee that held several hearings last summer and fall.
Among other things, the panel endorsed the possibility of awarding gift cards to game winners as a way to discourage cash prizes, which are illegal under state law. Gift cards would be redeemable for gasoline and merchandise sold at the convenience store.
The gift card provision is part of a COAM bill the House Regulated Industries Committee approved last week. But the gift card is absent from the Senate measure.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, the Senate bill’s chief sponsor, said the lottery corporation is currently conducting a pilot program using gift cards.
“We need to wait and see what we learn from the work they’re doing,” he said.
Josh Belinfante, representing COAM machine owner Ultra Group, also complained about the provision in Kennedy’s bill locking in contracts between machine owners and location owners to one year with the seven-year option. He said he supports the House bill, which offers more flexible language governing contracts.
The committee did not vote on the Senate bill Monday. In fact, Chairman Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, suggested it might be better to wait for the House bill to clear that chamber and make its way over to the Senate.
“We’ve got an unfinished product right now, not ready for action,” he said.
Cowsert said the Senate might not have time to “perfect” Kennedy’s bill before Crossover Day, the deadline for bills to pass a legislative chamber in order to be considered further. Crossover Day is set for next Monday.
ATLANTA – The money deposited in nine state-run trust funds could be used for no other purpose under legislation that cleared the Georgia House Appropriations Committee Friday.
House Bill 511 is the follow-up to a constitutional amendment Georgia voters ratified overwhelmingly last fall requiring all revenues the state’s dedicated trust funds collect to remain inside those programs rather than be diverted into the general fund budget.
The late Georgia Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla, championed the constitutional amendment for years to prevent Georgia governors and legislative leaders from raiding the state’s Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste trust funds during economic downturns when money is tight.
The constitutional amendment finally gained passage last year following the unexpected death of Powell in November 2019 at age 67.
“When we in this General Assembly create and pass a dedicated fee to go to a certain purpose … it should go to the purpose it was intended for,” Rep. Bert Reeves, R-Marietta, who has shepherded the legislation since Powell’s death, told committee members Friday.
While Powell developed the proposal with the Solid Waste and Hazardous Waste trust funds in mind, the bill the committee adopted Friday also would apply to the following:
State Children’s Trust Fund, which goes to the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
Wildlife Endowment Trust Fund, a tax on hunting and fishing licenses that supports state wildlife programs.
Georgia Trauma Care Network, which funds trauma care services through a fine on “super speeders.”
Transportation Trust Fund, which supports road projects through the state’s motor fuels tax.
Georgia Agricultural Trust Fund, which goes toward marketing the state’s farm products and state-run farmers’ markets.
Fireworks Trust Fund, a sales tax on fireworks that goes toward trauma care and firefighter training.
Georgia Transit Trust Fund, a per-ride tax on ride-sharing services that helps fund public transit improvements.
The constitutional amendment ratified last fall includes a 10-year sunset date to give lawmakers a chance to review each trust fund and ensure the services it helps pay for are still needed.
It allows governors and legislatures to suspend the dedication of trust fund revenues during economic emergencies to free up those funds for general spending needs.
Also, the total amount dedicated to the trust funds during a given fiscal year could not exceed 1% of the state’s budget from the previous fiscal year.
Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, said the transit trust fund is particularly significant because it represents the first dedicated source of state funding for transit projects. The General Assembly earmarked $75 million in one-shot bond financing for transit in 2015.
“Transit has been neglected,” Smyre said. “This is a great step.”
The bill now moves to the House Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
ATLANTA – Legislation to legalize online sports betting in Georgia gained momentum in the state Senate Thursday just as it appeared to get sidetracked in the Georgia House of Representatives.
A Senate committee passed a constitutional amendment that would put sports betting on the statewide ballot next year for Georgia voters to decide.
Senators decided to pursue the referendum route after the House postponed a floor vote on a bill aimed at legalizing sports betting without changing the state Constitution.
“It looks like it might not fare well in the House,” said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. “[A constitutional amendment] might be the way to go.”
Sports betting supporters, including an alliance of Atlanta’s four pro sports teams, have been pushing since last year for lawmakers to legalize betting on sports by statute, which would need only simple majority votes of the House and Senate.
Constitutional amendments require two-thirds majorities in each of the two legislative chambers, a higher hurdle that backers of legalizing casino gambling and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing have been unable to clear in the General Assembly in a decade of effort.
Cowsert said he has become convinced that passing a statute authorizing the Georgia Lottery Corp. to oversee sports betting without amending the Constitution wouldn’t overcome a court challenge.
“It’s a real stretch to call sports betting a lottery game,” he said. “We’re on pretty thin ice to convince a court.”
Cowsert said going the constitutional amendment route also would let lawmakers dedicate the proceeds from sports betting to purposes other than Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs, which the lottery helps fund.
The constitutional amendment the committee approved Thursday would dedicate the proceeds instead to needs-based college scholarships, rural health care and deployment of broadband in unserved areas.
“I think this will probably generate much broader support for this initiative,” Cowsert said
Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus, said HOPE originally was a needs-based scholarship program when voters approved the lottery in the early 1990s. After lottery sales took off, lawmakers removed an income cap that had been placed on scholarship awards, and HOPE become a merit-based program.
Besides the constitutional change, the committee also approved a 42-page “enabling” bill with details on how sports betting would be conducted in Georgia.
Under the bill, sportsbooks would pay a 16% tax on their income to the state.
The lottery board would license at least six companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings to operate online sportsbooks in Georgia. The companies would pay an application fee of $10,000 and annual operating fees of $100,000.
While wagering on college sports would be allowed, bettors could not wagers on Georgia’s sports teams.
Bettors would have to be located physically inside the state, a provision that would be enforced by geofencing technology.
As was the case during previous legislative hearings on legalizing gambling, the sports betting proposal drew opposition from representatives of faith-based groups.
Mike Griffin, representing the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, said online sports betting, which can be accessed through the convenience of a cellphone, is particularly prone to attracting problem gamblers.
“The majority of people who gamble are responsible” he said. “It’s the irresponsible people who contribute the most money.”
Cowsert said the legislation includes provisions to discourage addictive gambling. It would limit bettors to spending no more than $2,500 a month and prohibit sportsbooks from extending credit to bettors, he said.
Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, argued sports betting is already taking place illegally in Georgia, but the state isn’t benefitting because it can’t be taxed.
“This puts structure in it … [and] revenue that goes to important uses,” he said. “The money goes to a good cause. Right now, it goes to the bookie.”
The constitutional amendment and enabling bill now head to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule votes on the Senate floor.
ATLANTA – First-time unemployment claims fell again in Georgia last week, mirroring a decline in jobless claims nationwide as more and more businesses shut down by the coronavirus pandemic reopen.
Georgians filed 25,447 initial unemployment claims last week, a decrease of 1,085 from the previous week, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
As the number of claims in the Peach State continued trending down, Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said his agency is processing claims at rates above the national average. Georgia reports releasing first payments to 75.5% of claimants with initial claims within 21 days, outpacing the national average of 66.4%.
“No state has processed and paid as many claims as we have at a faster pace,” Butler said. “We have received some tough scrutiny lately for the small percentage of claims not paid that may not even be eligible for payment.”
Still, the General Assembly is looking to give the labor department more help processing claims. The fiscal 2021 mid-year budget Gov. Brian Kemp signed last week includes $49,729 to hire a chief labor officer to oversee unemployment insurance requests, including financial audits.
Legislation authorizing the position is now before the Georgia Senate Industry and Labor Committee.
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Georgia, more than $18.7 billion in state and federal benefits have been paid out to more than 4.4 million jobless Georgians, more than during the entire nine years before the virus struck.
The job sector accounting for the most unemployment claims last week was accommodation and food services with 5,520 claims. The administrative and support services sector was next with 3,045 claims, followed by manufacturing with 2,226.
More than 186,000 jobs are listed online at https://bit.ly/36EA2vk for Georgians to access. The labor department offers online resources for finding a job, building a resume, and assisting with other reemployment needs.
ATLANTA – A bridge over a portion of the Port of Savannah would be named in honor of former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., under a resolution the Georgia House of Representatives passed unanimously Thursday.
The bridge on Georgia 307 crosses over the Mason Mega Rail Yard, a $215 million project that, when completed, will give the port enough additional capacity to ship goods to cities in the nation’s Mid-South and Midwest regions.
Isakson helped land federal funding for that project as well as the $1 billion deepening of Savannah Harbor to make room for a new generation of giant containerized cargo ships now calling at the Port of Savannah. Both projects will be key contributors to one of the nation’s fastest-growing ports.
“Johnny Isakson was and is a champion for economic development and job creation,” said House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, the resolution’s chief sponsor, who made a rare appearance in the well of the House chamber to present it. “Senator Isakson believes the best way to help lift our state up is to expand economic opportunity for everyone.”
Isakson, who hails from Cobb County, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1999 and moved up to the Senate in 2004. He retired at the end of 2019 for health reasons.
Ralston praised the former senator Thursday for serving as a model of civility, which he said has become an increasingly rare quality in Washington, D.C.
“Senator Isakson only knows people as friends or future friends,” the speaker said. “His example is one we would do well to follow.”
Rep. Steven Meeks, R-Screven, told his House colleagues he got to know Isakson while working as a congressional staffer on Capitol Hill. He said Isakson treated everyone the same, regardless of their status.
“To him, everyone in a room was important,” Meeks said.
The resolution’s cosponsors include House Majority Leader Jon Burns, R-Newington, and Reps. Bill Hitchens, R-Rincon; Ron Stephens, R-Savannah; Jesse Petrea, R-Savannah; and Carl Gilliard, D-Garden City.
