Editor’s note: Some readers were having difficulty seeing the full video on mobile – you can see it more clearly HERE
An ad promoted by a pro-casino gaming group calling itself ‘Georgia Growth’ began hitting email and text addresses of prominent politicians and media late Wednesday afternoon.
The video comes just one day before a Senate committee considers moving a constitutional amendment authored by Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta). At the same time, a bill which would also authorize a statewide referendum on casino gaming has been introduced in the House by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah).
The campaign follows the announcement that newly elected Gov. Brian Kemp will allow the legislature to consider letting the public vote on a constitutional amendment to allow both horse racing and gaming in some form or fashion.
Kemp has no official role in the constitutional amendment process, as referendums to allow for constitutional amendments require a 2/3 affirmative vote in the House and Senate, but not the governor’s signature.
Observers believe that casino gaming and horse racing both have strong odds of passing during the session.
Horse racing, which according to experts yields a much lower profit than do casinos, is usually the forerunner to casino gaming. The vast majority of horse racing complexes in the U.S. later add slot machines and table games on their properties.
Casino gaming, which has in recent years come to be dominated by large entertainment megaplexes, reportedly generates much larger amounts of revenue which could be used to help shore up Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship as well as expand it to provide assistance to students on a needs basis.
See Georgia Growth’s video HERE
