Georgia has not had an easy time approving sports betting. A well-organized anti-gaming faction will do what they can to defeat efforts.
But a former state chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court has possibly made the pro gambling support that much easier by insisting that
a constitutional amendment was unnecessary to pass sports betting.
Judge Harold D. Melton said it could be avoided if it functions as an extension of the lottery.
Up to now, the consensus pointed to the amendment to the state constitution, which requires a “yes” vote from two-thirds of each legislative chamber and a majority of voters approving in a referendum.
“It is my opinion that sports betting can be legalized as a state-run lottery for educational purposes solely through legislative action,” Melton wrote in a 10-page memo obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Opponents condemn any such talk as gambling is immoral, addictive and leads to crime. They won’t go quietly.
In 2019, Legislative Counsel Director Rick Ruskell went with the constitutional amendment recommendation, concerned that the other way is not so clear cut.
“It’s a roll of the dice. Are you willing to gamble?” Ruskell asked a panel of lawmakers studying the potential of gaming in the state. “The wise course, the safe course and in order to give the people of Georgia … an opportunity to weigh in on the issue, would be to go through with a well-crafted constitutional amendment.”
In a 2020 legal opinion, Atlanta attorney Bruce Brown said that the law would not stand up to a constitutional challenge.
Last year, a promising bill was torpedoed by the House Rules Committee, which decides what bills are eligible for a vote.
Some on the committee didn’t want the taxes going for what state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, called “gap funding,” when a student is accepted to college but is just a little short of the money needed to attend.
Supporters point out that Georgians illegally wager around $5 billion a year on sports, using illegal overseas servers.
A poll last month found 51 percent support sports betting if revenue goes for pre-K and higher education programs. A 2020 poll by the Journal-Constitution found that about 58 percent supported legalizing sports betting.
Marshall Guest, lobbyist with the Metro Atlanta Chamber, said the polls bolster chances.
“Former Chief Justice Melton is a renowned and respected jurist, and his legal opinion makes clear there is a pathway for the Legislature to legalize safe, secure sports betting this session, generating tens of millions of dollars for education in the process,” Guest said.
