A faint ember of hope for sports betting in Georgia was extinguished on Tuesday, with the state legislature missing the deadline to approve online-only gambling.
Opposition in the state general assembly based votes primarily on concerns about allocation of tax money recovered from betting, doubts about whether jobs would be added in the state and growing fears of gambling addiction.
House Bill 380 was the third gambling-centric bill introduced in the session, but it never reached the statehouse floor for debate.
That bill gained favor with representatives because it aligned sports betting taxes to pre-kindergarten and college scholarship programs supported by the existing state lottery.
Senate Resolution 140 passed 30-26 in the general assembly. But a two-thirds majority approval was required to advance it.
The resolution “proposed an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Georgia so as to authorize the Georgia General Assembly to provide by general law for sports betting in this state.”
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said he was open to signing a bill.
Dissenting Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) said his opposition comes down to creating jobs. Casinos and wagering on horse racing would create “thousands of jobs, both in construction and long-term,” he said, while mobile betting creates “five jobs.”
–Field Level Media