Several Georgia Senators are trying to make the issue of gambling in the Peach State easier for them—and the voting population—to understand. Five lawmakers, including Sen. Carden Summers, introduced SR 395 last week.
The resolution seeks to provide clarity on the casino gambling, sports betting and horse racing industries. The quintet already started out with a confusing name for the resolution. They are calling it the “Senate Study Committee on the Creation of a Robust Wagering Ecosystem in the State of Georgia.”
Summers told PlayUSA that a study was needed to sort out the complexities of the three types of gambling.
“I think we have complicated the gaming issue in Georgia for the last four-to-five years,” Summers said. “It’s been way too complicated. I think what we need is a simple study on what the gaming industry will do to Georgia – the harms, the good, the jobs it will bring in and what’s recommended before we move forward. I just want to make sure we quit monkeying around.”
The resolution, filed a week before the end of the 2023 legislative session, effectively ends the chances of HB 237. The House’s bill sought to legalize sports betting in the state. It got out of the House and was in the Senate but is expected to die there because of the resolution.
The introduction of SR 394 signals that some Senators are hesitant to approve a sports betting bill. Time had run out anyway, so it appears sports betting will have to be reintroduced in 2024.
SR 394 would be able to give lawmakers time to sort out several issues that appear cloudy. The first is whether a constitutional amendment is needed to approve sports betting. Some agree that it is legally necessary, but a retired judge recently wrote that the Legislature didn’t need it.
Some of the other issues that would be examined are online and retail sports betting, land-based destination resort casinos, and horse racing wagering.
The committee would consist of 10 Senators, and Summers said the first meeting would be around June or July. The resolution calls for four public hearings and a final report by December 1.
Summers would like to see legislation bringing the issue of changing the state’s constitution to voters.
“I have to believe that gaming is coming to Georgia,” Summers said. “I think people in general are to the point where they like it as entertainment.”
