{"id":443,"date":"2025-07-29T17:59:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/?p=443"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:09:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T12:09:18","slug":"georgia-gaming-study-committee-begins-review-proponents-tout-economic-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/29\/georgia-gaming-study-committee-begins-review-proponents-tout-economic-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Gaming Study Committee Begins Review, Proponents Tout Economic Benefits"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming met for the first time this week<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The committee will make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding gaming bills<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Georgia doesn&#8217;t presently have commercial or tribal casinos, sports betting, or parimutuel wagering<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming, initiated through a House resolution approved earlier this year, held its first meeting this week at the Oconee County Administrative Building in Watkinsville.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_358635\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-358635\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-358635 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Georgia gaming study committee Atlanta\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/shutterstock_288322463-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>The Atlanta skyline. A group of lawmakers in Georgia is studying whether allowing commercial casinos, sports betting, and parimutuel wagering in the state is in its best interest. (Image: Shutterstock)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The Gaming Study Committee is tasked with analyzing how the liberalization of certain forms of commercial gambling, as approved by the people and enabled by the General Assembly, might benefit the Peach State. <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The nine-member bipartisan committee consists of Chair Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) and Reps. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), Matt Hatchett (D-Dublin), Yasmin Neal (D-Jonesboro), Chuck Martin (D-Alpharetta), Al Williams (D-Midway), Holt Persinger (R-Winder), and Stacey Evans (D-Atlanta).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of 16 House study committees this legislative offseason, with committees probing everything from marijuana to election procedures, the gaming group will make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding casinos, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-sports-betting-retained-by-offshore-sportsbooks\/\">sports betting<\/a>, and parimutuel wagering by December 1.<\/span><span class=\"s1\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Yearslong Discussion<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Georgia is one of only five states that don&#8217;t have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/georgia-casino-bill-fails-sports-betting-odds-remain-long\/\">commercial or tribal casinos<\/a>, sports betting, or parimutuel wagering. The others are Alabama, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Utah.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Lawmakers in Atlanta have repeatedly discussed bills and referendums seeking to end the state&#8217;s gambling prohibition aside from the state-run lottery and certain small charitable games.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We&#8217;ve been talking about this issue since my hair was black,&#8221; said Stephens, 71, a Republican who has supported gaming expansion throughout his nearly three decades in the state House of Representatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Stephens chairs the House Economic Development &amp; Tourism Committee and has repeatedly backed bills to authorize casinos and sports betting. Williams is the president-elect of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. The organization doesn&#8217;t promote or oppose gaming, but regularly meets to discuss the proper regulation of the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Powell, asked to give a historical summary about gambling legalization failures, explained to the committee and public in attendance that previous study committees on the matter have concluded that the legislature lacks the authority to legalize casinos or sports betting without a constitutional referendum approved by voters.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The state constitution does not allow for gambling,&#8221; Powell explained.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Powell, who served on a 2019 gaming committee, said the Georgia Lottery, which benefits education through the HOPE Program (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally), has been a roaring success.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">No matter what someone wants to say about the evils of gambling &#8212; there&#8217;s a lot of evils in this world &#8212; people like to gamble,&#8221; Powell said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Ed Clark, president of EchoPark Speedway, which was known for decades as Atlanta Motor Speedway, encouraged the committee to recommend that the legislature initiate legislation to conduct a casino referendum. Clark and Speedway Motorsports, which owns the track &#8212; home to NASCAR&#8217;s Ambetter Health 400 and Quaker State 400 &#8212; has expressed interest in building a casino destination at the Hampton facility.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">We&#8217;re looking to broaden our business footprint by partnering with an experienced operator for a fully integrated, high-quality resort with a hotel, casino, convention space, dining facilities, and amusement activities,&#8221; Clark testified.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;How would this benefit Georgia? New business means new jobs,&#8221; Clark said.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Religious Opposition<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Georgia is squarely in the Bible Belt, and Mike Griffin, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board&#8217;s public affairs representative, a mainstay in General Assembly whenever so-called &#8220;sin industries&#8221; are mulled, pleaded with the Gaming Study Committee to refrain from allowing what he believes is a morally unacceptable industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Griffin added that, regardless of morality, the &#8220;data&#8221; proves that it&#8217;s &#8220;intellectually dishonest&#8221; to talk about the benefits of gambling without talking about the detriments.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">You might not ride a high moral horse on whether you think it&#8217;s right or wrong, but what about the data? What does it [gaming] have related to economics? What about crime? What about addiction?&#8221; Griffin asked.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">House Gaming Study Committee Chair Wiedower told Griffin he would &#8220;love&#8221; to see his &#8220;passion in other avenues, not just in gambling.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The committee has not announced when its next meeting will be held, though Wiedower says it will likely be towards the end of August.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/george-gaming-study-committee-begins-review\/\">Georgia Gaming Study Committee Begins Review, Proponents Tout Economic Benefits<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming met for the first time this week The committee will make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding gaming bills Georgia doesn&#8217;t presently have commercial or tribal casinos, sports betting, or parimutuel wagering The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming, initiated through a House resolution approved earlier this year, held its first meeting this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=443"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.chuckwardrealestate.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}