ATLANTA — The General Assembly will get a choice this year whether to legalize gambling in Georgia by statute or constitutional amendment.
Legislation introduced into the state House and Senate this week takes the constitutional amendment approach, which would put the issue to Georgia voters in a statewide referendum.
The Senate version is limited to legalizing sports betting, while the House measure would also allow casinos and pari-mutuel betting on horse racing.
Two bills introduced into the legislature earlier this year would legalize sports betting by statute. Avoiding the constitutional amendment route means they wouldn’t have to gain two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate to pass.
The constitutional amendment path would make better public policy because it would give voters the final say over whether to legalize a form of gambling that goes well beyond the Georgia Lottery, said Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, chief sponsor of Senate Resolution 140.
“If we’re going to make that big a cultural change in Georgia, let the people decide that,” said Cowsert, chairman of the Senate Regulated Industries Committee, which will take up the amendment next week.
Cowsert reminded committee members during a brief presentation of his legislation Thursday that the Senate mustered enough votes two years ago to pass a constitutional amendment on sports betting. The measure easily cleared the Senate 41-10 but died in the state House of Representatives.
“It is politically possible to do so,” Cowsert said. “I am not putting this up as a roadblock.”
The Senate constitutional amendment, if ratified by voters, would authorize online sports betting in Georgia. Twenty to 25% of the revenue raised through sports betting would go to the state for a variety of purposes.
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