ATLANTA – Legislation legalizing online sports betting in Georgia passed a committee in the state House of Representatives Tuesday.
The House Economic Development & Tourism Committee voted 20-6 in favor of moving forward a bill that enjoys the backing of a coalition of Atlanta’s four pro sports teams, the Braves, Falcons, Hawks and Atlanta United.
The teams need a way to lure fans back to the games after losing millions of dollars during the coronavirus pandemic, said committee Chairman Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, chief sponsor of House Bill 86.
“The stands are empty,” he said. “That’s major losses for these folks. Fan engagement is what sports betting is all about.”
Under Stephens’ bill, at least six operators such as FanDuel or DraftKings would be licensed by the Georgia Lottery Corp. to run online sports books in Georgia, paying application fees of $50,000 and annual licensing fees of $900,000.
The companies would pay a tax of 14% of their adjusted gross revenues. The money would go toward education, including the popular HOPE Scholarships program.
With demand for scholarships outstripping the lottery’s income, HOPE has fallen $300 million in the hole, Stephens said. Based on the 14% tax, sports betting could be expected to generate more than $50 million a year in tax revenue.
“It will not fill the hole completely, but it will help” he said.
The legislation would prohibit Georgians under age 21 from engaging in sports betting. Wagering on high school or college games also would be forbidden.
Bettors would have to be physically located in Georgia to place a bet, a requirement that would be enforced with geofencing technology.
The bill got some pushback Tuesday from committee members concerned that legalized gambling in Georgia would create more problem gamblers.
“We really need to have something in place for people who get caught up in this trap,” said Rep. Miriam Paris, D-Macon. “People are going broke.”
Stephens said the Georgia lottery already spends more than $400,000 a year on programs targeted to gambling addiction, and a portion of the revenue from sports betting also would go to help problem gamblers.
The bill also discourages bettors from getting in over their heads by requiring that they use debit cards to place bets.
“You have a stopgap built in,” he said.
The bill’s opponents also argue that legalizing sports betting requires a constitutional amendment, as is the case for casinos and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing.
Supporters say a constitutional change isn’t necessary because sports betting can be incorporated into the existing legislation that created the lottery.
The bill moves next to the House Rules Committee to schedule a vote of the full House.
The House version of the measure won’t be the final say. A competing version of the legislation is expected soon in the Georgia Senate.
Fracking involves injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rock.
ATLANTA – Legislation environmental advocates fear would prohibit Georgia cities and counties from setting clean energy goals for their communities has been introduced in the General Assembly.
Under House Bill 150, local governments in Georgia would not be allowed to adopt building codes based on the source of energy they use. The legislation also would apply to state agencies.
More than 40 cities across the country have banned gas in new construction in an effort to encourage clean energy. Natural gas derived from fracking, which involves injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rock, has been a particular focus of environmental groups.
While cities in Georgia haven’t gone that far, Atlanta, Augusta, Athens, Savannah and Clarkston have adopted measures committing to a goal of 100% clean energy tied to certain target dates in the future.
“ I would think that the local governments that have passed 100% clean ordinances will strongly oppose House Bill 150,” Mark Woodall, legislative chair for the Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club, wrote in an e-mail. “You can’t get to 100% clean without moving homes and commercial locations off of fracked gas.”
An identical “preemption” bill was introduced in the Georgia Senate last year shortly before the coronavirus pandemic struck the state, forcing the General Assembly to take a two-month break. As a result, the legislation failed to make headway.
Georgia Power Co. has long championed an “all-of-the-above” approach to power generation that includes coal and gas, but also wind and solar as well as nuclear power.
“Georgia Power supports House Bill 150 and similar legislation that promotes and maintains a diversified mix of energy supply options for local communities,” said John Kraft, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based utility.
For local governments, the bill cuts both ways. Cities that run their own utilities – members of either the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia or the Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia – would see it as beneficial to have preemptive legislation that ensures gas remains part of the fuel mix, said Charlotte Davis, deputy director of governmental relations for the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA).
But philosophically, the GMA opposes legislation at the state level that takes away local control, Davis said.
“We’re the first to scream when it comes to preemption,” she said.
Davis also noted that none of the Georgia cities that have set 100% clean energy goals has imposed an outright ban on gas or any other forms of energy.
House Bill 150 has been assigned to the House Energy, Utilities & Telecommunications Committee. The committee’s chairman, Rep. Don Parsons, R-Marietta, is among its cosponsors.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s film industry has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic and then some.
Film and TV producers currently are working on 37 projects in the Peach State, up from 23 at this time last year, Lee Thomas, the state Department of Economic Development’s deputy commissioner for film, music and digital entertainment, told members of a Georgia House committee Monday.
“In spite of all that’s happened, we’re up considerably now from where we were last year,” she said.
COVID-19 shut down production in Georgia for two months last spring. As a result, the film industry’s economic impact in the state declined during the last fiscal year for the first time since the General Assembly enacted a generous film tax credit in 2008, from $2.9 billion fiscal 2019 to $2.2 billion in fiscal 2020.
Thomas said the industry began to bounce back in May when Gov. Brian Kemp released a set of voluntary best practices to protect film crews from the virus.
In July, the filming of commercials resumed, followed by independent films in August and major studio productions in September, Thomas said.
“We signaled the industry early on that we were going to be ready for business when they were,” she said.
Thomas said the sheer number of sound stages that have been built in Georgia during the last decade also contributed to the fast resumption of film and TV productions.
“They were looking for areas where they could have a controllable environment,” she said.
The legislature passed a bill last year aimed at giving the film industry more scrutiny in light of the tax credit’s high cost. The legislation requires all film productions located in Georgia to undergo mandatory audits by the Georgia Department of Revenue or third-party auditors selected by the state agency.
But Thomas assured members of the House Creative Arts & Entertainment Committee Monday that the tax credit more than pays for itself.
She cited a report from fiscal 2016 showing the film industry generated $2.2 billion in direct spending in Georgia that year, while the tax credit cost the state $667 million.
ATLANTA – A Gwinnett County man has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison for running a fake credit card and ID lab.
Claude Goines,35, of Lilburn manufactured fraudulent credit cards and driver’s licenses while on a work release program related to an earlier fraud conviction.
Federal agents raiding Goines’ lab found multiple laptops, USB storage devices, cell phones, printers, blank card stock, security holograms for driver’s licenses of several U.S. states, two handguns and other related items, said Bobby Christine, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
“Identity theft and credit card fraud has become an all too common problem,” Christine said. “The actions of thieves like Goines can severely damage citizens’ lives and credit.
“We encourage all citizens to monitor their credit for any suspicious activity, and if they find any, to contact law enforcement immediately.”
Goines has a background in law enforcement He formerly served as a detention officer at the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, where he rose to the rank of sergeant.
Goines was convicted last October after he pleaded guilty to charges of access device fraud and possession of device-making equipment.
After he completes his prison sentence, he will spend three years on supervised release.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI.
ATLANTA – Proposals to legalize gambling in Georgia are now in the pipeline of both legislative chambers in the General Assembly.
A bill introduced in the state Senate this week would allow pari-mutuel betting on horse racing in the Peach State subject to a statewide referendum.
The Senate bill, sponsored by Sen. Brandon Beach, follows the introduction of two measures in the Georgia House of Representatives to legalize online sports betting and casino gambling.
Beach’s 51-page bill calls for the construction of up to three mixed-use developments featuring a racetrack, hotels and restaurants. The facilities also could include convention space, entertainment venues and retail shopping.
One of the racetrack complexes would have to be located within 50 miles of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and require an investment of at least $250 million. The other two facilities would be outside of metro Atlanta and require a smaller investment of at least $125 million.
Portions of the betting proceeds would go toward education, health care, rural development and to efforts to address problem gambling and promote the horse racing and breeding industries in Georgia.
Beach, R-Alpharetta, the main driver behind horse racing in the legislature for several years, has promoted the proposal as a way to create jobs, not only at the racetracks but on rural horse breeding and hay farms.
He and other supporters of legalized gambling argue gambling is already pervasive in Georgia, but the state isn’t maximizing badly needed tax revenue that could be derived from racetracks, casinos and sports betting.
“We’ve got the COAM (coin-operated amusement machines) and the lottery drawings,” Beach said. “[But the lottery] is not able to completely fund the HOPE Scholarship [program] anymore. We’re going to have to find different revenue sources.”
Beach’s bill would create a commission to oversee horse racing in Georgia. Track operators would have to put up $500,000 for a license from the commission and pay $250,000 per year to renew the license for up to 10 years.
Legalizing pari-mutuel betting on horse racing requires a constitutional amendment, which has yet to be introduced so far this year. Passing a constitutional change and putting it on the statewide ballot for Georgia voters to decide is a difficult hurdle in the General Assembly because it requires two-thirds majorities in both the House and Senate.
Sen. Ed Harbison, D-Columbus, has signed on to Beach’s bill as a cosponsor. The bill has been assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee.
