Minimum of eight licenses
Lawmakers in the state of Georgia are once again attempting to legalize sports betting and casino gambling. On Tuesday, Republican Senators Carden Summers, Billy Hickman, Brandon Beach, and Lee Anderson introduced Senate Resolution 131 with the goal of getting a referendum in front of Georgia voters in November 2026.
Though some reports say this has to do with online gambling, that does not appear to be the case, as the bill explicitly states: “All casino gambling activities authorized by this subparagraph (e) shall take place at a casino facility owned and operated by an individual or entity that has been issued a casino gaming license in this state, as no off-site casino gambling activities shall be permitted or authorized in this state.”
each license holder could operate one gambling facility
At least eight licenses would be authorized by a new gaming commission (as opposed to the Georgia Lottery). Each license holder could operate one gambling facility and nobody could have more than one license or own a piece of more than one license holder.
The legislation needs to pass by a two-thirds vote in both the Georgia House and Senate before advancing to next year’s ballot.
Counties will get their share
Sports betting and casino gross revenue would be taxed at 20%, with the money going to the “Georgia Gaming Proceeds Fund.”
The first $2bn that go into the fund will be “evenly appropriated” to each of Georgia’s 159 counties. The General Assembly can use any excess money for any purpose except for the first $500m above the $2bn threshold, which will also go to the counties until $5bn has been distributed and at least 5% must go toward problem gambling programs.
This is a significant departure from previous sports betting and casino legislation, which primarily sought to use tax revenue to fund pre-kindergarten programs and Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship for college students. The state lottery currently funds those programs, but they are so popular that officials have sought other funding sources for years.
It is still entirely possible that tax revenues allocated by the General Assembly could go to those education programs.
If at first you don’t succeed….
An attempt to legalize sports betting in Georgia made slight progress last year but ultimately failed. Senate Resolution 579 and Senate Bill 386 made it through the Georgia House Committee on Higher Education before being stymied in the full House.
Though the bills did receive bipartisan support, particularly in the Senate, disagreement on whether or not a constitutional amendment was required to legalize sports betting may have ultimately derailed the legislation. A constitutional amendment is the more difficult route, as it requires two-thirds support in both chambers plus a statewide vote.
many lawmakers felt that sports betting would fall under the auspices of the Georgia Lottery
The other option is just majority approval in the House and Senate. Many lawmakers felt that sports betting would fall under the auspices of the Georgia Lottery and could thus be passed by this simpler method.
Some lawmakers who were proponents of sports betting felt that a constitutional amendment was the safer route, even if it was a much steeper road, as they believed that if the bills passed by majority vote, they would ultimately be challenged in court, which would set the process back.