Georgia Lawmakers Look To Create Massive Gambling Bill In 2020

• Georgia is one of eight states in the country that has neither tribal nor commercial casinos.
• As the industry would be brand new, legislators believe the expansion would create thousands of jobs.
• Lawmakers must decide to legalize gaming by each industry or as one all-inclusive gambling bill.

ATLANTA – While the belief that Georgia could add casinos and gambling to their state laws have been discussed in the past, it has taken a serious turn heading into 2020.

The state’s session does not begin until January 13 but many lawmakers are already prepping the legislative bodies when it comes to the idea of gambling legalization.

Currently, Georgia is one of a handful of states that has zero legal casinos – both commercial or tribal – or legal sports betting and horse racing. With talks of gambling legalization occurring in many of the southeastern states bordering Georgia, lawmakers such as Senator Brandon Beach (R- Alpharetta) believe now is the best time to capitalize.

The only legal gambling in Georgia can be found by playing the Georgia Lottery. As this industry generated over $1.1 billion in tax revenue for the state’s HOPE scholarship fund in 2018, Beach believes the addition of additional gaming industries will only help augment this number.

The state has repeatedly been roughly a quarter-billion dollars short in funding its essential state-operated programs, causing the House to form a committee to discover ways to increase its tax revenue.

Beach is the chairman of a special committee that has focused on the positive and negative effects of legalizing casinos and other forms of gaming. One of the biggest advantages of legalization stems around the creation of jobs to an industry that will be starting from scratch.

“This would create thousands of jobs. That’s what I like about it,” said Beach. “I do think there’s momentum for something to happen this session.”

Beach’s committee held their last meeting before entering the 2020 legislative session but did so without any formal bill being drafted. Still, the legislator believes that more discussion still needs to take place on the matter – such as whether the state should legalize each gaming activity individually or in one complete proposal.

“If we’re going to amend the constitution, we ought to look at it holistically rather than picking and choosing,” said Representative Ron Stephens (R- Savannah).

Stephens seems to have the right mindset when it comes to legalization, as any constitutional amendment will be heavily scrutinized by all lawmakers in attendance. By combining the package into one complete overhaul, Georgia may be able to push forward legal gambling by this time next year.

Only time will tell what the end result will be, but Georgia is certainly on the right path to increase their gambling offerings sooner than later.