A few days after a Senate Resolution that would put legalizing sports betting and casinos on the ballot died in committee, State Rep. Marcus Wiedower, R-Watkinsville, introduced a constitutional amendment that would be limited to online sports betting.
House Resolution 450 has picked up bipartisan support, with 47 Republican House members and 10 Democrats signing on as cosponsors. Wiedower said he has never seen this level of support before in the House for this resolution – giving him confidence in the success as Crossover Day looms Thursday.
Sen. Carden Summers, R- Cordele, saw his proposal, SR 131, fail in the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee last week. The measure would have legalized both online sports betting and casino gambling and taxed them at 20 percent if it was approved by voters during a November election.
Summers says the measure would’ve divided up any tax revenue evenly among all of Georgia’s 159 counties. The committee overwhelmingly voted down the measure, although some Senators who voted against SR 131 said they only did so because they “didn’t believe it would get support in the House.”
Both Summers and Wiedower are pushing standalone constitutional amendments without the addition of separate “enabling” bills – saying there’s no point in working to develop such detailed measures if voters defeat legalized gambling at the polls.
Wiedower sponsored legislation two years ago that would have legalized sports betting by statute rather than a constitutional amendment.
Summers said the advantage of seeking a constitutional amendment is that it would give Georgia voters a chance to decide the issue. He pointed to a straw poll among Republican primary voters last May that found more than 80 percent in favor of a statewide vote on whether to allow gaming in Georgia.
Portions of the proceeds from gambling in both Summers’ and Wiedower’s measures would go toward programs to help problem gamblers avoid becoming addicted. Summers’ proposal called for splitting the first $2 billion of the proceeds evenly among Georgia’s 159 counties. Wiedower’s House resolution calls for dedicating most of the proceeds to Georgia’s pre-kindergarten program.
