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
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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>\nIn 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>\nIn 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":"\n
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<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n