Poll results published earlier this month by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggested the public support is there. It found that 56 percent of registered voters supported the idea, with only 38 percent opposed. The casino question was asked in plain language among several other questions related to political and social topics relevant to Georgia voters.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cThis is about creating 5,000 jobs in Atlanta and thousands of jobs in a secondary market,” said Senator Beach. \u201cSo, this is about job creation, tourism and then taking those dollars and reinvesting it in education. Anytime you can create jobs and invest in education, I\u2019m all for that.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThe bill would tax casino gambling revenues at 20 percent. Thirty percent of funds raised would go the creation of a new needs-based college scholarship and the rest would to the HOPE scholarship and the state\u2019s pre-kindergarten program.<\/p>\n
Despite lingering hostility from many in the legislature and outright opposition from influential faith-based groups and anti-gambling crusaders in the state, Stephens is optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got a very, very good chance of getting this thing through,\u201d he told the Associated Press, Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Two Georgia casino bills are expected to be introduced to both chambers of the legislature in Atlanta today. State Senator Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and State Representative Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) have almost identical legislation and high hopes to authorize two casinos in Georgia, one in the Metro Atlanta area and another in a smaller city, possibly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":44209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Georgia Renews Bid to Legalize Casinos with Scaled Down Proposition<\/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