Hopes that the state of Georgia would introduce a casino bill this year died after House Speaker, David Ralston, said that he would not call it on Monday. This essentially killed HR 807 for another year at least. Another gambling related bill, HB 677, which laid the groundwork for legalized gambling to increase state scholarship funding also died this week. 90% of the income from taxation on potential casinos would have reached the HOPE Scholarship fund under HR 807.
It was understood that there was no hope for both gambling bills after Crossover Day, the 30th legislative day of the Georgia General Assembly, came and went on Monday. According to house rules, no general bill may pass the Senate after this day.
Both bills were due to reach the House floor on the Friday before Crossover Monday, however Halston postponed them until Monday, telling lawmakers that they should return to their districts over the weekend and listen to what the man on the street was saying about the issue, before returning at the start of the week.
Members of the chamber were then told on Monday that Halston’s North Georgia constituents were opposed to bringing casino gambling to the state.
“The people I have talked with care deeply about the character and image of our state,” said House Speaker, who later postponed the legislation for the following day, essentially killing the bills for this year.
Gambling expansion proponents were left frustrated with the demise of HR 807, especially after the bill received unanimous approval by the Georgia legislatures’ Regulated Industries Committee.
The bill laid the groundwork for a question in the November statewide ballot whether or not to allow casinos in the state. If the question had received a positive response, each region would have been given the option of introducing a casino. An accompanying constitutional amendment would have allowed up to four casinos in the Peach State – reduced from six. It stated that two casinos would need to be located in the metro Atlanta area, and the other two in different parts of the state.
Before the bill died on Crossover Day, a number of operators expressed interest in constructing casinos in Georgia, one of them being MGM Resorts. The chief executive officer of MGM, Jim Curren, said that the company would be able to create a project to the tune of $1 billion, and create thousands of temporary and permanent jobs.
