State Senate Considers Legalized Betting Bill

The state Senate began debate Tuesday on legislation that would legalize betting on sports in Georgia – including horse racing – without the potential pitfall of requiring a constitutional amendment, according to a report by Capitol News Beat.

Senate Bill 57 would allow sports betting both online and in person at kiosks that could be located inside a range of businesses, including sports venues.

The program would be overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corp.

Sen. Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the Senate Economic Development & Tourism Committee Tuesday that by running sports betting through the lottery, a constitutional amendment would not be required.

What’s different about the Senate legislation is it would legalize all types of sports betting – except high school games and other contests involving competitors under age 18.

In 2021, a bill was in the State House that would have legalized casino gambling and allowed a limited number of casino resorts in the State.

Based on the hope that bill would pass, a developer from metro Atlanta released renderings of three proposed casino resorts around the state, and one of those sites was on acreage next to Harbor Light Marina in Hart County.

However, that bill never made it to the House floor.

This latest bill would allow “fixed-odds” rather than “pari-mutuel” betting.

With fixed-odds betting, the odds a bettor places on a sports contest don’t change as the volume of bets increases, Hickman said.

The Georgia Constitution specifically prohibits casino gambling and pari-mutuel betting but not fixed-odds betting.

Under the Senate bill, 20% of the adjusted gross income derived from sports betting would go to the Georgia Lottery Corp. to benefit education.

But the bill’s opponents questioned its potential economic benefits.

Peggy McCarthey, a board member of the nonprofit Georgia Pet Coalition, said horse tracks across the U.S. are no longer profitable unless they’re co-located with casinos.

She pointed out that public interest in horse racing is small and getting smaller, noting that since 2000, 41 tracks have closed and attendance is down.

John Kent, a former business professor at the University of Illinois who recently retired to Georgia, said legalizing any form of sports betting in the Peach State would require a constitutional amendment.

Mike Griffin, the public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, who has appeared many times before legislative committees opposing legalized gambling, said failing to require a constitutional amendment would mean bypassing a statewide referendum on the issue.

“It needs to be voted on by the people … if there’s going to be any additional gambling,” he said.

The committee did not vote on the Senate bill Tuesday. Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, the committee’s chairman, who has sponsored horse racing bills in past legislative sessions, said he expects a vote next week.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.