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Georgia's gambling legislation, Deal flip flops

070305 -- Lilburn, GA -- (all cq) In the back room of the restaurant, A Sports Fan, a video game and billiard tables are shown Monday afternoon in Lilburn, Ga., March 5, 2007. Owner Richard Tao and his restaurant are under pressure from the City of Lilburn to remove entertainment such as billiard tables, video games, poker games, and karaoke night that are popular at the restaurant. (JASON GETZ / AJC Staff)

Credit: Jason Getz

Credit: Jason Getz

070305 -- Lilburn, GA -- (all cq) In the back room of the restaurant, A Sports Fan, a video game and billiard tables are shown Monday afternoon in Lilburn, Ga., March 5, 2007. Owner Richard Tao and his restaurant are under pressure from the City of Lilburn to remove entertainment such as billiard tables, video games, poker games, and karaoke night that are popular at the restaurant. (JASON GETZ / AJC Staff)
By Tom Sabulis
April 4, 2013

Today’s moderator: Tom Sabulis

A 20-year veteran of the AJC, Tom Sabulis has covered news, politics and the arts during a career that has taken him to newspapers across the country. Since 2008, he has coordinated many of the newspaper’s pro/con debates and first-person guest columns.

»Join the discussion online today: Share your opinions and ideas at blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-forward.

The passage of House Bill 487 moves the regulation of coin-operated gaming machines from the Department of Revenue to the Georgia Lottery, with revenue going to help fund the HOPE scholarship. The legislation will eliminate illegal, untaxed underground machines at convenience stores, writes the chief of a statewide trade group. But putting an official imprimatur on gambling of any sort places the state on a slippery slope, says a Christian group that cites the lottery’s expanding array of games and their impression on children.

Guest columnists:

Video poker bill will help enforce the law by Jim Tudor

And so it goes; Gov. Deal flips on gambling by Jerry Luquire

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