Georgia Casino Bill Gets Surprise Late Push in Legislature

ATLANTA, GA — After stalling in the state Senate, a bill that would legalize casino gambling in Georgia got a surprise push in the Georgia House on Friday.

Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah, plans to present his own version of the bill to the House Regulated Industries Committee some time after noon on Friday.

"I want us to have a vote," Stephens told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Either you’re for this or you’re against it. You can’t be for HOPE scholarships and opposed to gambling. They are inextricably linked."

Georgia's HOPE scholarship, which pays in-state tuition for students who maintain a "B" grade-point average, is funded by the Georgia Lottery.

Earlier this week, Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, acknowledged he didn't have enough support to get his version of the casino bill out of the Senate's Regulated Industries Committee. He said he thinks there's more support for the measure in the legislature at large than there is on the committee.

Legislation must clear a committee in either the House or Senate before it can be considered by the chambers as a whole.

The legislation would allow voters to approve two resort-style casinos in Georgia. One would be in metro Atlanta and the other around Savannah, on the Georgia coast. Lawmakers from other parts of the state, notably Columbus, have pushed to have more casinos allowed in other places.

As part of the legislation, the casinos would generate revenue for Georgia's HOPE scholarship and other higher education funding, as well as money for rural health care and broadband technology.

Opponents of the casino bill, largely coming from religious groups, threw together a press conference Friday morning to oppose Stephens' effort.

Friday is the 28th day of the General Assembly's 40-day annual session. Known as Crossover Day, it is, by custom, the last day upon which a bill must be approved in one chamber to be considered by the other.

But there are various legislative maneuvers lawmakers can use to keep bills alive after Crossover Day, including attaching them as amendments to other bills that have already cleared one chamber.

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