Sports betting in Georgia was once again put on the sidelines as three bills related to legalizing wagering in the Peach State failed to be included in the current legislative session.
Monday, which is known as Crossover Day, was the deadline for bills for the legislative calendar and Senate Resolution 140, Senate Bill 172, and House Bill 380 did not advance to a vote. SR 140 needed two-thirds of the Senate and only tallied 30 of the 56 votes. The bill would have required a constitutional amendment.
This is the third attempt by legislators to get bills legalizing sports betting—now proponents will have to wait until 2024. Legislation also failed in 2021 and 2022.
The signs that sports betting was doomed may have come a week earlier, when Senate Bill 57 was rejected by a 37-19 vote. That bill, if passed, would have had the state lottery govern sports betting and betting on horse races. It did not require a constitutional amendment.
Some of the lawmakers object to any form of gambling on the basis of moral grounds. A lottery was approved and instituted in 1992. Some form of gambling has been attempted in the legislature almost every year since then but has been rejected every time.
This year seemed like sports betting might finally get legalized. Governor Brian Kemp, who had been noncommittal about sports betting, said he would sign a bill if it landed on his desk.
The defeat was deflating to proponents of sports betting.
“Right now we have unregulated sports betting that’s done underground with bookies, and I would argue that’s more harmful to people,” said state Sen. Brandon Beach.
Even though HB 380 didn’t make to the legislative calendar, it is still technically alive. One advantage that it has over related bills is that it excludes pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing.
The bill would allow for up to 15 licenses for mobile apps and set the tax rate at 15 percent.
