A proposal filed in Georgia on Tuesday would legalize casino gambling and sports betting in one fell swoop, allowing voters to decide.
Senate Resolution 131 is the brainchild of four Republican state senators: Sen. Carden Summers, Sen. Billy Hickman, Sen. Brandon Beach and Sen. Lee Anderson. The bill would amend the state constitution to authorize extensive gaming expansion across the state, including land-based casinos, iGaming and digital sports betting. There was a similar effort by the same lawmakers last year that never gained traction.
Under the broad framework that was filed on Feb. 4, a minimum of eight casino gaming licenses would be awarded by a newly established gaming commission, with one skin per license.
Online sports betting and online casino would be taxed at 20% and tax revenue would go into a specially created Georgia Gaming Proceeds Fund. The first $2 billion in the fund would be split between the governing authorities of each Georgia county, as would subsequent additional revenue until a total counties payment of at least $5 billion has been reached.
At least 5% of the additional proceeds beyond that would be dedicated to gambling health and addiction programs and services.
The proposed resolution has only just been filed for introduction, so there’s a long way to go. If it were to gather momentum and ultimately pass, Georgia voters would decide on the fate of online gambling in the Peach State.
Same sponsors fell short in 2024
The new bill has multiple co-sponsors who pushed legislation last year which ultimately ran out of steam before the end of the state’s 2024 legislative session.
SR 131 is a reworking of SR 538, which counted all of Summers, Hickman, Beach and Anderson among its co-sponsors.
That bill would also have legalized casino gambling and sports betting, but with some notable differences: the minimum number of licenses would have been five, not eight, and the tax rate would have been a lower 13% that this year’s suggestion. The provision in 2025’s bill to establish a dedicated gambling proceeds fund is also a new measure.
Other measures also died last year
Senate Bill 386 and its companion measure, SR 579, failed to pass in the House Rules Committee in March after advancing through the Senate and getting the green light in the House Higher Education Committee. Those bills proposed offering up to 16 sports betting licenses and taxing wagering at 20%, although that suggested rate was raised to 25% by an amendment.
Beach was also a co-sponsor of SR 579 in 2024, along with Sen. Bill Cowsert. Hickman sponsored SB 386 last year. That bill would have amended the existing Georgia Lottery for Education Act to allow the lottery to oversee sports betting. That bill passed in the Senate but also stalled in the House.
Yet another failed suggestion in 2024, Sen. Cowsert’s SB 172, would have legalized both online and retail wagering through a constitutional amendment.
This marks the seventh consecutive year in which Georgia lawmakers have tried to expand gambling.
