Tomorrow state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, will convene the Senate Study Committee on Gaming and Pari-Mutuel Wagering Horse Racing and Growing Georgia’s Equine Industry. InsiderAdvantage is told by Beach and other lawmakers that legislation will be introduced in the 2020 General Assembly that calls for a vote by Georgians to ultimately allow some type of destination resort gaming, local-option horse wagering and sports betting as a new source of state revenue.
This dovetails with another significant development. Earlier this month, state House Speaker David Ralston announced a Special Committee on Economic Growth. The mission: Look at potential industries that would “require legislation creating a new regulatory framework.” And one of the committee’s leaders will be state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah— like Beach, an advocate for the people’s right to vote on casino resort gaming.
A third development involves state agency budget cuts Gov. Brian Kemp is mandating that would take effect under an amended budget in 2020. “We would be remiss if we did not explore options for new sources of revenue to continue funding priorities while keeping the tax burden on Georgians as low as possible,” Ralston said the other day. In this context, Stephens says he wants voters to approve a constitutional amendment that creates a gaming commission with the authority to expand gambling.
While Georgia’s Faith and Freedom Coalition chapter and other religious-oriented groups are longtime opponents, gaming supporters cite favorable polls and say thousands of jobs could be created and hundreds of millions of dollars could flow into the coffers of Lottery-funded education programs like the popular HOPE scholarship.
Gov. Brian Kemp has also signaled that while he is personally opposed to gambling, he would not stand in the way of the people’s right to vote on gaming proposals.
In light of these developments, proponents and opponents both agree that the stage is now set for a 2020 showdown over gaming legislation touted as a new source of revenue for state government.
