A Senate study committee created to look into the possibility of creating a lottery game to benefit veterans will hold its second, and probably final meeting, Thursday in Columbus.
Sen. Ed Harbison (D–Columbus), Chairman of the Committee, will host the meeting at 1:00 p.m. at the Citizen Service Center located on Citzens Way in Columbus.
The Senate Study Committee on Creating a Lottery Game to Benefit Veterans was created by the passage of Senate Resolution 484 during the 2018 Legislative Session for the distinct purposed of looking into the possibility of creating one or more games within the Georgia Lottery for the benefit of Georgia’s military veterans. Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle appointed Sen. Harbison to serve as the chairman. Also on the committee are: Sen. Mike Dugan (R-Carrollton), Sen. Tonya Anderson (D-Lithonia), Sen. David Lucas (D-Macon) and Sen. Larry Walker (R-Perry). The committee must report its findings on or before December 31, 2018.
There will be no set agenda for the meeting, according to a representative from Sen. Harbison’s office. However, lawmakers will hear from those who attendance who would like to speak on the issue.
“The idea of a lottery that will benefit veterans’ issues is not a new idea, but one that has been discussed for several years,” said Sen. Harbison.
“The Georgia Lottery has long been used as a means for students to attend Pre-Kindergarten and college, but we see the lottery as something that could also be used to benefit the men and women who have sacrificed their time, talents and energy to protecting and serving our nation. We realized that we need to do as much research as possible to determine the best course of legislative action in order to find a solution that will not affect the current system, but add to the lottery’s capabilities.”
