Lawmakers push for Georgia casino referendum

Under the new plan, casino legislation introduced last year would be put on hold for at least a year to first push for a constitutional amendment.

The decision to go to a referendum comes as lawmakers are yet to agree on a plan for how to implement legalized casino gaming in the Peach State. A current legislative proposal, House Bill 677, calls for up to six casino resorts that would be developed in five geographic zones in the state – Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah and South Georgia.

State Rep. Ron Stephens, Chairman of the House’s Economic Development and Tourism Committee, and author of the bill, now plans to put his measure on hold. “I kind of pulled everybody together and said ‘Guys I hope you’ll help me kill my bill’,” said Stephens. “They were asking me before ‘we need to do this in the bill and that in the bill’, but none of that matters unless we can get the constitutional amendment passed.”

Stephens introduced a companion House Resolution 807 that proposes the constitutional amendment to legalize casino gaming in Georgia. This second measure will now be pushed by supporters and would enable the General Assembly to authorize a limited number of licenses in the state. It requires a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate before it would be eligible for the public ballot in November.

Initial polls show bringing casinos to Georgia is a popular idea and 62pc of registered voters favoured casino expansion to support the state’s HOPE scholarship and other education programs, according to a new poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Under the proposed 12pc tax rate, Stephens said casinos would bring in $239m, enough to fully fund HOPE.