A bipartisan panel of Georgia state lawmakers on Friday agreed a casino bill will come before them in 2017, and they expect the fight to come down to details, including how to spend the proceeds.
Speaking to a luncheon of the Georgia Hotel and Lodging Association in Buckhead, where lawmakers also discussed religious liberty" legislation, state Sen. Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, said a similar proposal that did not pass this year was badly flawed and that he expects a better bill in the coming months.
“If we approve this and bring casino gambling or pari-mutuel betting or both, we have to get it right the first time,” said Miller, who serves as one of Gov. Nathan Deal’s Senate floor leaders.
It would take a two-thirds majority of both the House and the Senate to give voters the chance to allow casinos and/or horse racing in Georgia. Getting to that point, Miller and others said, will depend on what is in the proposal.
"The first question is do we want to allow this type of gambling in our state," said state Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Smyrna. "Once we decide that question … what are we going to do with the money? For me and I think most of my Democratic colleagues to even start this conversation, that money has to go where it's desperately needed, and that's needs-based aid for college."
Evans has been a leader in an effort to restore funding for lottery-funded HOPE scholarships and grants. This past session's casino proposal would have used tax proceeds and licensing fees to boost HOPE's coffers. But state Rep. Geoff Duncan, R-Cumming, said Friday that the two should not necessarily be tied together.
“I have a problem with the correlation between fixing HOPE and casinos,” he said. “HOPE is a tuition and spending issue, and I don’t feel like more money is going to solve that problem. I want to make sure the conversation is a legitimate conversation. Don’t just let that blur through for HOPE.”
State Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, too, raised questions about the 2016 casino bill, specifically supporters' claims that it would raise $1 billion for the state.
“I was a little suspicious about some of the dollar figures,” she said. “It’s not as though just because you open a casino in Georgia people all of a sudden have more money to spend.”
All four lawmakers appeared to agree that any casino should be prevented from cannabilizing existing businesses. Of particular concern to hotel owners is whether any gambling facility comes equipped with a hotel of its own. Miller noted that there are an estimated 10,000 hotel rooms within one mile of the Georgia Dome.
Evans pointed to Baltimore, where a new casino opened in 2014.
“They have purposefully cut down the number of hotel beds in that casino because there are four existing hotels around,” she said. “There is a way to work with hotels and local venues. The other thing is to make sure you’re doing all you can do to make sure your area around the casino is also vibrant.”
On whether there will be a renewed effort to again pass a “religious liberty” bill in 2017, the lawmakers said they expect it to be reintroduced. The governor’s veto of a 2016 bill that would have expanded legal protections for same-sex marriage opponents, however, should give proponents pause, several said.
"As we know, we have a really strong ally in Governor Deal on this," said Parent, who opposed House Bill 757 this year. "I just don't' think he's going to stand for anything that" damages Georgia's economy.
But Duncan, who voted for the bill that Deal vetoed, sees things differently.
“I represent the most conservative district in the state of Georgia,” he said. “I respect the governor. He is elected by more people than I was elected by.”
Duncan said he would not be surprised if several legislators try to pass smaller, more focused bills.
“I think the issue is not carried through the General Assembly as one issue,” he said. “I think it’s broken into several issues.
One thing is certain, Miller said: Those bills are coming.
“We will continue to have this conversation,” he said. “There’s no ducking it, there’s no getting away from it.”
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