Sports betting legislation in Georgia appears to be stalling again, as both sides of the ledger continue to get ticked off with each other over issues unrelated to sports or sports betting.
Earlier this month the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus called for a reparations study commission. Republicans opposed. Democrats got mad when the House GOP slammed shut a Medicaid expansion plan. In 2021, House Democrats let the Senate bill die over GOP efforts to limit voting rights.
Last year, Republican legislation limiting healthcare treatments for transgender children ended Democrat support. State politics in a Presidential election could be the demise this year, according to LSR.
“Similar to recent years, it’s looking like this might get held hostage,” a source said. “But maybe we’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
The sports betting legislation sailed through the Senate, but the House might not be so giving.
Senate Bill 386, which legalizes sports betting via the lottery, passed 35-15 on February 1. But Senator Bill Cowsert threw a monkey wrench on it with a provision which tied legislation to a constitutional amendment. That passed by an even larger margin, 34-7.
The Senate voted 41-12 February 27 for Senate Resolution 579. That could succumb to the two-thirds votes needed in the House.
An industry source predicted to LSR: “As a constitutional amendment becomes more and more likely and Dem support less and less likely, it seems like it will just end up in the same spot as always.”
If it does pass the House by some reason, it would designate 80 percent of taxes from sports betting to prekindergarten programs and college scholarships. then to college scholarships once prekindergarten programs are fully funded. Of the remaining amount, 15 percent help people with gambling problems, and 5 percent creates a fund for Georgia to recruit and fund sporting events, according to the Associated Press.
“I think it’s the politically appropriate thing to do when we make this type of major policy shift in our state,” Cowsert said. “This is to give voters the opportunity to speak on the issue.”
Senator Marty Harbin, a Tyrone Republican, said it was a mistake to send sports gambling to the ballot, warning that it’s a ruinously addictive form of gambling.
“The people who vote for the constitutional amendment will not have the knowledge and information that you and I have,” Harbin said, per the AP. “We have the money. We have the No. 1 state to do business in. We have a state that is prosperous.”
The House? Not a good proposition bet.
