Georgia state Senator Brandon Beach recently filed Senate Bill 79, which, while not mentioning the word “casino,” calls for allowing two gambling “destination resorts” in the state—one in Atlanta and the other in Savannah, Columbus or Augusta. The Atlanta casino would require an investment of at least billion, and the other would require at least 0 million.
The bill also would establish a 50member oversight commission. The resorts would be taxed at 20 percent, between the industry’s preferred 12 percent rate and Governor Nathan Deal’s 24 percent.
In addition, 70 percent of gambling proceeds would go toward the state’s HOPE scholarship program and 30 percent would go toward a new needs-based scholarship.
State Rep. Ron Stephens also filed similar legislation, House Bill 158, which also would legalize horse racing. “With the huge numbers of revenue that comes in you could put a police officer on every corner, not to mention the reduction of property taxes down to zero.” Stephens’ bill also would allow voters to determine if they would want a casino or racetrack built locally.
Governor Nathan Deal recently said he no longer opposes casino gambling in the state. He said he’s willing “to keep the discussion going. We need to be absolutely certain that if a casino bill passes, that it doesn’t adversely impact the lottery program of this state.”
Similarly, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed seems to have eased his position. In 2015 he said he was “not there at all” on legalizing gambling. “I believe Las Vegas is in Las Vegas for a reason. I have a real issue with putting a gambling facility in Atlanta,” he said then. Recently he stated, “You can live a long happy life by not telling the folks across the street what they should be doing. I’m going to keep my advice to myself and my comments to myself while legislators work on a bill.”
According to a recent poll, most Georgians favor casinos. They spend an estimated $600 million a year at out-of-state casinos. MGM Resorts International has proposed a $1 billion casino in Atlanta.
In addition, five state lawmakers have proposed the Fantasy Contest Act, which would “provide for the licensing, registration, regulation and taxation of fantasy contest operators.” One of the authors, state Rep. Trey Kelley said daily fantasy sports is a game of skill that requires study and practice. “I have serious reservations about pure gambling in our state, but games of skill are already allowed. Golf tournaments, bass fishing tournaments, skeet shoots. We already allow those. I just see this as the proper classification.”
The bill would require licensing fees from $10,000 to $50,000 and include player protections.
