Editor’s note: Because At Issue didn’t appear last Sunday, we have this bonus question today.
Undaunted by this year’s failed effort in the state Legislature, casino gaming interests are setting up to pitch lawmakers in next year’s session on putting a constitutional amendment on the ballot allowing gambling in Georgia.
In August, the Committee to Preserve HOPE Scholarships, an education coalition backed in part by gaming interests, predicted the popular scholarship program could run short of cash when today’s pre-k students reach college.
Earlier this month, Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts, told the Rotary Club of Atlanta that Las Vegas-style gambling could be an economic windfall both for the state and the HOPE program.
In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Murren said that if his company was allowed to operate in Georgia, MGM could spend more than $1.4 billion on a resort casino in Atlanta.
State Sen. Josh McKoon, on the other hand, told the AJC that legalized gambling “is a massive tax on the poorest people in the state … (and) an immoral way to deal with public policy.”
Noting that casino interests have deployed dozens of lobbyists and given tens of thousand of dollars in campaign contributions to legislators, Mike Griffin, spokesman for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, cited the damage to families from gambling addiction and other social ills.
“I think one of the most egregious things I hear in all of this is that it’s all for the children,” Griffin said.
Though key figures like Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston have opposed casino gambling, the public may be more receptive. A poll commissioned by the AJC in January found 62 percent of registered voters in Georgia favor legalized casino gambling to support HOPE and other education programs.
Are casinos a sure bet for local revenues and the HOPE scholarship, or a fool’s game that could hurt the state’s most vulnerable residents? Tell us what you think. Send comments by email to communitynews@ajc.com
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