The Georgia Senate on Tuesday approved a plan that would allow Georgians to decide at the polls in November whether legalized sports betting should be allowed in the state.
Senate Resolution 579A bill establishing a constitutional amendment referendum to sanction sports gambling in Georgia passed on a 41-12 vote Tuesday. Bipartisan support for Athens Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert's bill was large enough to comfortably meet the required two-thirds majority. To amend the Georgia Constitution through referendum.
Cowsert's resolution calls for the creation of a gaming commission to regulate the sports betting industry, which officials estimate could generate more than $100 million a year in tax revenue for the state.
On February 1, the Senate adopted Sen. Clint Dixon's SB 386, establishing a framework for how sports gambling will operate in the Peach State. The Sandy Springs Republican bill proposes that the Georgia Lottery oversee a bidding process to award seven licenses to sports betting companies. Other licenses will be distributed to Atlanta's five major professional sports franchises: NASCAR, Georgia Lottery, PGA and Augusta National. Mr. Cowsert was able to amend Mr. Dixon's bill by adding language requiring the General Assembly to also adopt a revised referendum.
Cowsert said Tuesday that if Georgians agree to a constitutional amendment, the new industry would be legal, rather than Congress unilaterally legalizing the expansion of legal gambling on the theory that it would be treated the same as state lottery games. He said it will be able to withstand scrutiny.
Under Cowsert's legislation, 80 percent of the tax revenue the state receives would be allocated to the lottery's education fund, with top priority going to preschool programs, with the remaining funds going to HOPE University scholarships. The remaining proceeds will be divided into 15% to educate the public about the dangers of gambling and 5% to promote major sporting events in the state.
“The question on the ballot is as clean and simple as possible,” Cowsert said. “There's no way voters would be confused by this.”
The Senate passage of this bill marks a significant milestone for the legalization of sports betting in Georgia, after years of failed attempts to legalize sports betting, horse racing, and casinos in combination or individually.
Tyrone Republican senator Marty Harbin said the economic benefits of sports betting were outweighed by problems related to gambling addiction, which is harming people under 30 in states where it is already legal. He said it would be.
Harbin said the state's $16 billion budget surplus is more than enough to fund preschool classes across Georgia and continue to support HOPE scholarships.
“(Gambling) addiction is a real addiction. It's the same addiction as drugs and alcohol,” Harbin said.
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