{"id":56132,"date":"2017-08-07T16:38:09","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T23:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=56132"},"modified":"2017-08-07T17:53:37","modified_gmt":"2017-08-08T00:53:37","slug":"state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/","title":{"rendered":"State GOP in Georgia Resurrects Moral Opposition to Casino Possibilities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like many states across the country, Georgia has been considering legislative proposals to legalize various forms of gambling. But unlike many states, proponents in Georgia are facing fierce opposition from a Republican party pushing <\/a>long-disputed talking points<\/a> about casino ills.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Watson, a former casino lobbyist and recently elected chair of the Georgia GOP, had to recuse himself from a Saturday vote on a resolution calling casino gambling destructive and disastrous. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Georgia GOP state committee passed a resolution over the weekend outlining the \u201csocietal costs\u201d of legalizing casinos and horse racing, in an effort to get ahead of promised 2018 legislation aiming to do just that.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce the gambling industry is allowed to operate legally in the state, its lobbying power will grow and increase its influence over legislators and local community officials,\u201d the resolution read.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The group is strongly against bringing in casinos in any form. They cite increased crime, higher divorce rates, job loss, child neglect, and domestic violence all as resulting from legalized casinos. The state committee is seen as a major influencer how Georgia\u2019s Republican lawmakers vote.<\/p>\n

The new anti-gambling resolution originally was going to include language opposing daily fantasy sports, but in the end left DFS out of it.<\/p>\n

Republican vs. Republican<\/h2>\n

The Georgia legislature considered different bills in 2017 looking to legalize casinos, horse racing, and DFS. Ultimately, they all died, or were tabled. But bill sponsors said they would be back next year.<\/p>\n

Two Republicans sponsored bills to allow casinos. Sen. Brandon Beach saw his SB 79 fail to get out of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee. He told the Atlanta Journal Constitution<\/em> he would retry the legislation next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI am not discouraged,\u201d Beach said at the time. \u201cI will double down and plan to crisscross the state starting in April.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, State Rep. Ron Stephens, also a Republican, saw his HB 158<\/a>, which set up a regulatory framework for casinos, fail to make it to the House floor for a vote.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to take a deep breath and come back and look at it some over the interim,\u201d he said. \u201cWe want to keep the discussion going.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Both lawmakers point to the benefits casinos could have. They mentioned how the Georgia lottery funds in-state college tuition and pre-K programs.<\/p>\n

Pre-Emptive Strike<\/h2>\n

The casino industry thought they had a path into Georgia when the GOP state committee elected John Watson, who is pro-gaming and has worked as a lobbyist for Boyd Gaming, as chairman in June. But because of that connection and potential conflict, he recused himself from the weekend vote.<\/p>\n

Local radio host (and brief 2012 presidential contender) Herman Cain\u00a0championed the moral turpitude message to the GOP state committee delegates, predicting disaster should casino legislation be allowed to move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll tell you a little secret,\u201d Cain said, \u201ccasino gambling doesn\u2019t cover your problems, it increases your problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

While the resolution doesn\u2019t carry with it the force of law, it does set forth a preferred policy position for Republicans, who are sure to be lobbied by casino interests between now and next year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To that extent, the state GOP committee\u2019s move could have the intended effect of stopping any legislative momentum for 2018 before it even gets started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like many states across the country, Georgia has been considering legislative proposals to legalize various forms of gambling. But unlike many states, proponents in Georgia are facing fierce opposition from a Republican party pushing long-disputed talking points about casino ills. The Georgia GOP state committee passed a resolution over the weekend outlining the \u201csocietal costs\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":56134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,13,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nState GOP in Georgia Resurrects Moral Opposition to Casino Possibilities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Georgia's state GOP committee passed a resolution over the weekend that opposes efforts to legalize casinos and horse racing.\" \/>\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=\"State GOP in Georgia Resurrects Moral Opposition to Casino Possibilities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Georgia's state GOP committee passed a resolution over the weekend that opposes efforts to legalize casinos and horse racing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/\" \/>\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=\"2017-08-07T23:38:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-08T00:53:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/johnwatson.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\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=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\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\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/\",\"name\":\"State GOP in Georgia Resurrects Moral Opposition to Casino Possibilities\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/johnwatson.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-08-07T23:38:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-08T00:53:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Georgia's state GOP committee passed a resolution over the weekend that opposes efforts to legalize casinos and horse racing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/state-gop-in-georgia-resurrects-moral-opposition-to-casino-possibilities\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/johnwatson.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/johnwatson.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"John Watson, a former casino lobbyist and recently elected chair of the Georgia GOP, had to recuse himself from a Saturday vote on a resolution calling casino gambling destructive and disastrous. 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