Georgia moves closer to legalizing sports betting: Senate bill 386 up for House decision
ATLANTA, Ga. (WGXA) -- Georgia is getting closer to legalizing sports betting. Legislation has passed the senate and it’s now up to the house for the next steps.
Senate bill 386 would be overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corp and award licenses to 16 online sports betting providers.
Before passing the senate, an amendment was added to allow Georgia citizens to vote on the bill.
Now in a House of Representatives committee, lawmakers debated about gambling.
Representative Kasey Carpenter suggested limiting the number in which a person can bet in a day might be helpful.
"Some kind of safeguard that says look if you're betting more than 10 times in a day you got a problem so just have some conversation with the industry but I think those kinds of protections will go a long way," said Carpenter.
Representative Rick Jasperse believes the state shouldn't pay to combat gambling problems and it should be up to the licenses.
"These licenses will spend engaging with Georgia's young people in participating in this it surely seems like it should come out of their hide," said Jasperse.
In the bill, Atlanta's major sport leagues will be getting licenses. One license also goes to the Augusta National Golf Club, the Professional Golf Association, and the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The rest of the licenses would be open to sports betting providers through a bidding process.
Lawmakers also recommended adding fantasy sports.
A lobbyist spoke out against the bill stating that it feeds into problem gambling.
Mike Griffin with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board urged lawmakers to vote against sports betting.
"I know we have sports betting taking place already in our state but legalizing this form of gambling it just putting gasoline on a fire instead of water and its just going to make it worse," said Griffin.
No vote was taken on the bill yet, however lawmakers only have less than 2 weeks to get it to the house floor before the end of the Legislative session.
