A bill to allow casino gambling in Georgia is effectively dead for 2017. Previously, state Senator Brandon Beach acknowledged his casino bill did not have enough votes to pass out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. Three days later, State Rep. Ron Stephens said he would present his version of the bill to the House Regulated Industries Committee but pulled it after conceding the proposal did not have enough support to pass through the committee and to the full House.
Beach said, “I am not discouraged. II do think we have the votes. We feel very confident we have the votes on the Senate floor, but you have to get it out of committee to get it to the floor.” He said he will “double down and crisscross the state starting in April” to build support for the bill in 2018.
Stephens added, “We will not give up on these kids. We will not give up on the HOPE scholarship and pre-K funding. We’ll be back again.”
State Rep. Calvin Smyre said, “The plug was pulled. We just couldn’t come to grips with it. I was hoping to come to some kind of agreement today, but we fell short.” House Speaker David Ralston added, “We’re going to take a deep breath and come back and look at it some over the interim. We want to keep the discussion going but we thought today was probably not the appropriate time to do that.”
The legislation would have allowed voters to approve two resort-style casinos in Georgia, one in metro Atlanta and the other in Savannah or Columbus or another smaller market. Casino revenue would have been directed to the HOPE scholarship and other higher education funding, plus rural health care and broadband technology. The measure also would have created a Georgia Gaming Commission.
However, legislation to allow daily fantasy sports betting passed the House on a 126-32 vote. House Bill 118 would define DFS as games of skill, said the measure’s sponsor, state Rep. Trey Kelley. “Fantasy sports contests are opportunities for individuals to study data, to practice, to use the skill they earned through this study and practice,” Kelley said. He added his bill intends to protect consumers—the estimated 1.5 million Georgians who participate in DFS betting despite its current illegal status.
Last year, state Senator Renee Unterman sponsored a bill to legalize DFS. But the Georgia Lottery Corporation asked then-Attorney General Sam Olens’ office for a legal ruling on DFS. The attorney general’s office determined they were games of chance, leading to the demise of Unterman’s bill. Recently Attorney General Chris Carr said that opinion still holds.
Under HB 118, the Department of Revenue would regulate DFS. Revenue from licenses and a 6 percent tax on revenue would go to the state’s general fund. Also, operators would have to make sure players are 18 years or older and college athletes would be barred from betting, among other provisions.
