The numbers are hard to ignore: Video lottery casinos in Atlanta, Savannah and Jekyll Island could gin up nearly $934 million in projected gross revenue by 2014. A sizable chunk of that money could flow into state coffers during a time when spending has been cut by billions.
That prospect deserves further, sober-hearted, coldly analytical study when the Georgia General Assembly reconvenes in January, if not before. What it doesn’t warrant right now is either an outright rejection or a full-bore enthusiastic embrace. The latter would indicate that the seductive bright lights, clamor and glitz of gambling halls have triumphed over common sense and the common good.
What’s needed instead is a businesslike, comprehensive cost-benefit analysis of whether Georgia and its pressing needs in education and other areas would be better served by a measured expansion of some form of gambling. There are other questions, too. Would an Atlanta casino make us a more-attractive convention and tourism location, for example?
These questions have gained additional timeliness in recent weeks thanks to the confluence of two seemingly unconnected events. The first was reporting by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Galloway on a consultant’s report commissioned by the Georgia Lottery Corp. examining the economic impact of offering video lottery terminals at new casinos. The $91,000, 84-page document offered a tantalizing financial scenario as well as a sobering glimpse at the costs and effort needed to achieve it.
The release of the lottery report was closely followed by last month’s elections. Gambling wasn’t on the ballot, but local Sunday package liquor sales were. And the question of allowing six-pack sales on the seventh day passed in 105 of 127 areas where it was put to voters. That no doubt led to quiet gulps by many pols who would have bet long odds on just the opposite outcome.
The 82 percent pass rate on Sunday sales points toward significant change in at least one traditional social more. That’s led some to wonder whether attitudinal changes might be similarly seen on an expansion of gambling here.
Offering gambling options beyond the Georgia Lottery is too serious an undertaking for us to offer a snap judgment now. We’ll simply posit that the concept warrants deeper consideration. The General Assembly and Georgia governors seem fond of appointing task forces to study politically sensitive matters. Think tax reform, economic competitiveness and prison reform, among others.
Given the profound, complex questions around the pluses and minuses of casinos, horse racing and the like, quickly forming a serious study group for this subject seems a worthwhile approach here. It’s only worth the time and effort, though, if the Legislature is prepared to fully consider all options and not stick to a reflexive “No!” as their default decision.
Gov. Nathan Deal and other elected leaders are among those saying “no” at this stage of the game. Spokesman Brian Robinson said in a statement that Deal “has stated repeatedly that there will not be an expansion of gambling under his watch.” Robinson said last week that Deal wants to protect Georgia Lottery revenues, which fund the HOPE scholarship and state pre-kindergarten programs.
That’s a valid concern — as far as it goes. HOPE and pre-k have done much to produce better-educated, more-employable Georgians.
That said, it’s oversimplistic in our view to so quickly foreclose other gambling options that, at day’s end, could bring in even more money to fund those critical efforts.
Only a diligent, quantitative follow-up to the lottery’s report will let Georgians know for sure. Would the benefits of casinos or horse racing, for example, outweigh the costs to society of added regulation, law enforcement, harm to other businesses and handling issues of gambling addiction?
More than 20 states, including some pretty conservative ones, have decided that the trade-offs work in their favor.
All that glitters is not gold, that’s for sure. But that doesn’t mean Georgia should continue its blanket opposition to a $34 billion gambling industry that generated $7.59 billion for state and local governments in direct taxes in 2010. A quick look at Georgia’s hacked-down state budget should convince skeptics of that.
Andre Jackson, for the Editorial Board
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