{"id":163131,"date":"2021-02-01T15:19:32","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T23:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=163131"},"modified":"2021-02-03T14:47:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T22:47:18","slug":"georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Brandon
Georgia Sen. Brandon Beach carries a document at the Capitol in Atlanta. Beach has introduced legislation to allow horse tracks in the state. (Image: Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure last week that would set up a Georgia Horse Racing Commission. Under Senate Bill 30, the commission could license up to three racetracks in Georgia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also last week, Rep. Ron Stephens (R) introduced a resolution to ask Georgia voters during the next election whether they want casinos in the state. That measure is House Resolution 30.<\/p>\n

A constitutional amendment is required before casinos or horse tracks could begin operating in Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Constitutional amendments are difficult to achieve. They require a two-thirds vote in both legislative chambers and a majority vote in a public election.<\/p>\n

In previous years, lawmakers at the Capitol in Atlanta have been unsuccessful in passing bills to expand gambling.<\/p>\n

Opponents have argued that gambling leads to higher crime rates and thrusts families into economic hardship when money losses mount.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sports Betting Bill<\/h2>\n

Earlier this year, Stephens introduced House Bill 86 to allow online sports betting<\/a> in the state. Stephens is chairman of the House Tourism and Economic Development Committee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Stephens has said sports betting does not require a constitutional amendment. This means the bill only would need a majority vote in each legislative chamber before going to the governor.<\/p>\n

Under his bill, sports wagering would be managed by the Georgia Lottery, with proceeds benefitting the HOPE scholarship fund. The lottery was established in Georgia in 1992.<\/p>\n

\n

If approved, HB86 in its current form would require the companies providing sports betting services to pay a 16 percent tax on revenue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The bill\u2019s proponents say sport betting creates jobs and can improve education in the state by pumping money into the HOPE scholarship fund. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re back at trying to backfill the HOPE scholarship and pre-k, and the destination resorts, along with the tourism piece, is the way to do it,\u201d Stephens told the newspaper.<\/p>\n

The capital city\u2019s four professional sports teams have expressed support for online sport wagering. These are the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Hawks, and Atlanta United.<\/p>\n

Southern States Seek Gaming Growth<\/h2>\n

In pushing sport betting legislation, Stephens has said more than $1 billion already is being spent on illegal sports betting in the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, mobile sports betting became legal in Tennessee in November for anyone betting within the Volunteer State. Chattanooga, a southeastern Tennessee city on the Georgia border, is only two hours from Atlanta.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Lawmakers in other Southern states are looking at allowing online sports betting. These include Texas and Mississippi.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In Louisiana, legislators during the next session in April will decide whether to allow mobile sports betting or restrict it to in-person wagers placed at sportsbooks inside casinos. During the November election, voters in a majority of Louisiana parishes<\/a> approved sports betting within their parish. With taxation and other issues unresolved, sports betting is not expected to be legal in Louisiana until at least 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure last week that would set up a Georgia Horse Racing Commission. Under Senate Bill 30, the commission could license up to three racetracks in Georgia. Also last week, Rep. Ron Stephens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":163135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGeorgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-01T23:19:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-03T22:47:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1066\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Larry Henry\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Larry Henry\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/\",\"name\":\"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-01T23:19:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-03T22:47:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29707270b397c572e9fd8f0fb72952\"},\"description\":\"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg\",\"width\":1066,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29707270b397c572e9fd8f0fb72952\",\"name\":\"Larry Henry\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Larry-Henry-bio-headshot-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Larry-Henry-bio-headshot-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Larry Henry\"},\"description\":\"Gaming Regulation, Crime, Politics \u2014 Larry Henry is a veteran print and broadcast journalist who spent more than 16 years in Nevada, including serving as legislative reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal and as political editor at the Las Vegas Sun. He's also written about popular culture for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. As a broadcast journalist, he worked as managing editor at KFSM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Arkansas, where he now lives and where casino growth is a hot topic. A Marine Corps veteran and LSU graduate, he is also an avid movie fan, especially of classic film noir from the 1940s and \u201950s.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/larry-henry\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0","description":"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0","og_description":"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2021-02-01T23:19:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-03T22:47:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1066,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Larry Henry","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Larry Henry","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/","name":"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0 - Casino.org Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-01T23:19:32+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-03T22:47:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29707270b397c572e9fd8f0fb72952"},"description":"Two Georgia lawmakers have introduced legislation to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.\u00a0 Sen. Brandon Beach (R) filed a measure Lawmakes in Georgia have introducted bills to allow commercial casinos and horse tracks in the Peach State.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/Brandon-Beach-2.jpg","width":1066,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-lawmakers-hope-to-bring-casinos-horse-tracks-to-peach-state\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Georgia Lawmakers Hope to Bring Casinos, Horse Tracks to Peach State\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b29707270b397c572e9fd8f0fb72952","name":"Larry Henry","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Larry-Henry-bio-headshot-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Larry-Henry-bio-headshot-96x96.jpg","caption":"Larry Henry"},"description":"Gaming Regulation, Crime, Politics \u2014 Larry Henry is a veteran print and broadcast journalist who spent more than 16 years in Nevada, including serving as legislative reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal and as political editor at the Las Vegas Sun. He's also written about popular culture for the Mob Museum in Las Vegas. As a broadcast journalist, he worked as managing editor at KFSM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Arkansas, where he now lives and where casino growth is a hot topic. A Marine Corps veteran and LSU graduate, he is also an avid movie fan, especially of classic film noir from the 1940s and \u201950s.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/larry-henry\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163131"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}