In March, Georgia state Senator Larry Walker’s bill allowing cities to limit bars, restaurants, veterans organizations and other locations to three electronic gambling machines instead of nine passed out of committee before the session was interrupted by Covid-19. When lawmakers returned in June the issue was sent to a study committee which recently met to come up with recommendations for the January legislative session.
Walker said about 25,000 machines currently operate in the state. He said winners of the games only are supposed to win credits to redeem for lottery tickets, fuel and store merchandise. The credits cannot be used to purchase alcohol, cigarettes, firearms or other off-limit items. But Walker said in the counties he represents,–Laurens, Bleckley, Pulaski and Houston, “we’ve had problems with cash payouts and criminal activity surrounding sort of the bad actors in this industry. It’s been a problem for a quite a while.”
Gretchen Corbin, president of the Georgia Lottery Corporation, which has regulated electronic gaming machines since 2013, said the lottery recently started a pilot program allowing players to load their winning credits onto an official Georgia Lottery gift card. Hopefully, the gift cards will decrease illegal cash payouts, she said. “Our responsibility is to serve as regulator and our desire is to be the best regulator possible, to hold up the statute that is provided to us while being the best business-friendly business partner that we can be,” Corbin stated.
In 2019, the lottery collected $9.3 million in fines relating to the electronic gaming machines, a significant increase over previous years due to a couple of large settlements, Corbin said. Violations include offering cash payouts, manipulation of the machines or a retailer earning more than half of its revenues from gaming “redemptions.” Corbin said the lottery forwards potential criminal cases to local and state law enforcement. For example, this summer the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced it raided Valdosta and Boston businesses that were paying winners in cash.
Walker’s bill also includes raising more money for public education by lowering the amount of money license holders and local operators take from gaming proceeds. Last year the Georgia Lottery forwarded $1.2 billion to education last year, with $91 million of that amount coming from the lottery’s 10 percent share from gaming machines. Players spent more than $3 billion on the games last year and redeemed $2.1 billion. The state also collected $11.2 million in licensing and fees from gaming operators.
