Lt. Gov. Burt Jones presides over the state Senate (Photo credit: Rebecca Grapevine)
ATLANTA – With less than two weeks remaining in this year’s General Assembly session, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has morphed from a lighting-rod political figure to a de facto life coach for anxious lawmakers.
“Everything’s gonna be alright” is the advice Republican Jones is handing out as the legislative session hits the final stretch.
As lieutenant governor, Jones presides over the state Senate, wielding his heavy gavel from the dais overlooking the chamber where he spent a decade as a senator representing Jackson and central Georgia.
“I don’t think there’s one piece of legislation out there that the state of the Republic depends on — other than the budget,” the new lieutenant governor said of his approach to the frenetic final days of the session.
Speaking of the budget, Jones is pleased about across-the-board $2,000 pay raises for state employees as well a property tax rebate drawn from Georgia’s historic budget surplus.
And he’s applying his equanimous approach to a sports betting measure making its way through the legislature.
It’s a proposal Jones supports personally but, even if it doesn’t pass, “the following day will still come,” he said.
Sports betting — after appearing to have died prior to the all-important “Crossover Day” deadline earlier this month– may have gained new life this week when it was tacked onto an unrelated bill about soap box derbies.
Jones said he thought it was wise for the legislature to consider sports betting apart from other gambling measures.
“History has shown that when you either put sports betting and casinos or sports betting and horse racing together, they usually don’t go anywhere,” he said.
“I had told people in the [Republican] caucus who were interested in sports betting that it would get a fair look, and so we’re gonna see how it does by itself.”
Jones contends that sports betting proceeds could help increase state revenues for the HOPE scholarship and help pay for expanded offerings such as scholarships for technical schools and early childhood learning.
“I think you’re going to need to pick up additional revenue streams [for those programs], and this one is legal in 36 other states,” he said.
Jones also would like to see a school vouchers measure pass. The bill would provide Georgia students in low-performing schools with $6,000 scholarships to pay for private school or certain other educational costs.
“If we can get final passage, that will be a big win for us,” Jones said.
Legislative Democrats have criticized the bill for diverting money from the public school system and noted that the scholarship amount is insufficient to cover the full cost of private-school tuition.
“Six thousand dollars could be the difference between closing the gap for those families that would like to have another option,” Jones said in response to that concern. “I think it’s a good first step.”
A vouchers bill passed by the Senate is slated to be taken up by a House committee. If approved, it could be sent to the full House for a floor vote.
“I’ve seen school voucher bills fail in the Senate. I’ve seen them fail in the House, and I’ve seen them pass both chambers,” Jones said. “But there’s never been a time when they were successful in passing both chambers, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Jones is also optimistic about prospects for this year’s mental health bill.
After the bill breezed through the state House of Representatives, Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, has announced that the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will consider a modified version of the bill in a case of inter-chamber wrangling.
“There’s a lot of subject matter there to tackle, a lot of moving parts,” Jones said. “We’re trying to get to a place where we’ll have something both chambers can agree on.”
Far more controversial is a bill that would prohibit transgender youths in Georgia from receiving either hormone-replacement therapy or gender-affirming surgery even if their parents and doctors approve.
“I don’t think we need to make it OK for something as drastic as trying to either through medication or surgical procedures …. do permanent changes to a child that could have significant long-term effects in a negative way,” Jones said.
The lieutenant governor said he is not concerned the controversial measure could damage Georgia’s reputation with large businesses.
“I haven’t heard from the business community at all on this,” he said. “There will be things we do that the business community doesn’t like … but in most cases, it’s not the majority.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Legislation to legalize sports betting in Georgia left for dead after Crossover Day in the General Assembly last week was brought back to life Thursday.
None of the four measures on sports betting introduced early in this year’s session made it through the Crossover Day deadline for bills to pass at least one legislative chamber to remain alive for the year.
But on Thursday, the Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee inserted a lengthy sports betting bill into a much shorter measure declaring the Southeast Georgia Soap Box Derby the state’s official sports box derby.
The sports betting measure, introduced by freshman Sen. Derek Mallow, D-Savannah, would authorize the Georgia Lottery Corp. to oversee online sports betting in Georgia. Twenty-two percent of the adjusted gross income derived from sports betting would support the state’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs.
To discourage addictive gambling, the bill would allow bettors to use debit cards only. Betting would be allowed on professional and college sporting events but not high school games.
Committee Chairman Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, thanked Lt. Gov. Burt Jones for helping put together the sports betting measure. As a state senator, Jones introduced sports betting legislation three years ago.
“He’s been a strong advocate for sports betting for a long time,” Beach said.
But Sen. Mike Duggan, R-Carrollton, objected to sports betting advocates essentially stealing the soap box derby bill for their own purposes. He said passing sports betting that way would set the industry back in Georgia by five years.
“When you hijack a soap box derby and put sports betting on the back of it, every person who was on the fence in Georgia has picked a side of the fence,” Duggan said. “It will not pass on the [Senate] floor.”
Freshman Rep. Leesa Hagan, R-Lyons, the original bill’s chief sponsor, went so far as to ask Beach to remove her bill from the sports betting legislation if the committee was determined to try to push sports betting through the General Assembly that way.
“I don’t want my soap box derby to be associated with sports betting,” she said.
Beach told Hagan he would find another bill moving through the legislature and attach her legislation to it.
The sports betting bill now heads to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
ATLANTA – This year’s bid to legalize sports betting is dead in the General Assembly.
The Georgia Senate defeated a proposed constitutional amendment Monday that would have put online sports betting before Georgia voters in a statewide referendum next year. While 30 of the 56 senators voted in favor of Senate Resolution 140, it fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment.
The Senate vote took place early on Crossover Day, the deadline for legislation to pass at least one chamber in the General Assembly to stay alive for the year. A House bill that would have legalized sports betting without a constitutional change failed to reach the floor before the House adjourned shortly before midnight.
Earlier Monday, state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, the chief sponsor of Senate Resolution 140, argued the constitutional route was the better way to go because it would have let Georgia voters decide whether to legalize sports betting.
“I don’t get why it’s wrong to let the people of Georgia vote on this issue,” Cowsert said. “We’re not dictators up here.”
But Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, said it would be irresponsible for senators to pass the issue to voters.
“They do not have all the information you and I have,” he told his Senate colleagues. “When we put it out there, we’re washing our hands of it.”
Harbin also opposed legalizing gambling because of its potential to lead to addictive gambling.
The resolution’s supporters pitched it as a way to create a needs-based scholarship program in Georgia to supplement the HOPE Scholarship program, which is based on merit. Under the legislation, half of the state’s share of the proceeds from sports betting would have gone to needs-based scholarships.
“We need needs-based funds,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta. “This bill puts that in place.”
But Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, argued a needs-based scholarship program is no longer necessary in Georgia because Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly now have fully funded the HOPE program more than a decade after the Great Recession prompted cuts in HOPE benefits.
“We should reward success,” Beach said. “If you have a ‘B’ average, you get your education paid for.”
Beach proposed amendments to bar needs-based scholarships and broaden the sports betting resolution by adding casinos and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing to sports betting, but they were soundly defeated.
ATLANTA – The state Senate soundly rejected legislation Thursday to legalize sports betting in Georgia.
Senate Bill 57 was defeated 37-19, as senators opposed to gambling joined forces with those who believe legalizing sports betting requires a constitutional amendment.
The bill’s supporters argued it would not require a constitutional change because it would not legalize either casinos or pari-mutuel betting, the only forms of gambling expressly prohibited by Georgia’s Constitution.
Instead, the bill defines sports betting as a lottery game, which Georgia voters authorized when they ratified a constitutional amendment in 1992 creating the Georgia Lottery.
Sports betting legislation that does require a constitutional change is also pending in the state Senate.
But since it would be limited to online betting, the other Senate measure wouldn’t have significant economic impact, said Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, Senate Bill 57’s chief sponsor.
“SB 57 creates jobs,” Hickman said. “When you just bet on sports on your phone, no jobs are created.”
Hickman cited a study conducted by Georgia Southern University last year that found sports betting could inject $1.1 billion annually into Georgia’s economy and create more than 8,500 jobs, many in rural areas of the state.
Many of those jobs would come from raising racehorses and growing hay to feed them. The bill calls for building three horse racing tracks in Georgia.
Hickman said the state share of the proceeds of sports betting under his bill would raise an estimated $250 million to $350 million per year for Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs.
But Sen. Marty Harbin, R-Tyrone, argued the revenue sports betting would bring in wouldn’t be worth the societal toll of expanding legalized gambling in Georgia.
“Much like drugs and alcohol, [gambling] leads to addiction,” Harbin said. “Gambling is financial foolishness. … The house always wins.”
With the defeat of Hickman’s bill, the proposed constitutional amendment is the only sports betting option still alive in the Senate.
The legislation cleared the Senate Regulated Industries Committee this week, but time is running out on the measure. It has yet to be scheduled for a floor vote, and Crossover Day – the deadline for bills to pass at least one legislative chamber – falls on Monday.
ATLANTA – A proposed constitutional amendment legalizing sports betting in Georgia cleared a state Senate committee this week.
Senate Resolution 140, subject to a statewide referendum next year, would allow online sports betting under the supervision of the Georgia Lottery Corp. and a newly created gaming commission.
Half of the state’s share of the proceeds from sports betting would go need-based scholarships for students to attend any of Georgia’s public or private colleges and universities as well as technical colleges.
Georgia’s HOPE Scholarships program was need based in its early years after voters approved creation of the Georgia Lottery in 1992 but was soon changed to a merit-based program.
One-quarter of the state’s share of sports betting revenue would be dedicated to health care – including mental health care – economic development and the “reduction of poverty” in low-income areas.
Another 15% would go to public health and educational programs for the prevention and treatment of addictive gambling.
Five percent would be used to solicit, promote, sponsor and host major sporting events in Georgia. The final 5% would benefit “innovational educational programs and services.”
A spokesman for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce spoke out in support of the constitutional amendment Thursday during a hearing held by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
“This is the first step in the creation of enhanced economic development and educational opportunities through a robust wagering ecosystem,” said David Raynor, the chamber’s public affairs officer.
Thursday’s hearing focused on efforts the state intends to undertake to prevent and treat problem gambling.
Mark Vander Linden, director of research and responsible gaming at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said the Senate legislation does a good job providing ways to help gamblers who become addicted to wagering.
But other speakers said the idea of stopping problem gambling is unrealistic because sports books can’t make money if they rely solely on casual players.
Les Bernal, national director of Washington, D.C.-based Stop Predatory Gambling, said casual players only account for 4% of gambling profits.
“Their business model is based on addictive gambling,” Bernal said.
After the committee approved the constitutional amendment, committee Chairman Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said the panel will take up an “enabling” bill spelling out specifics on how sports betting would operate in Georgia next week.
Sports betting is moving through the General Assembly this year on two tracks. Two bills pending in the Georgia House and Senate would legalize sports betting without changing the state constitution.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
