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Georgians who want casinos got good and bad news Monday, when state lawmakers said they would concentrate on authorizing a statewide voter referendum to legalize widespread gambling across Georgia.
The bad? Lawmakers have essentially abandoned efforts for now to also pass required “enabling” legislation that would govern any gambling expansion here, a move that comes as gaming advocates and state officials are still divided over what the proposed rules should be. That means it would take at least another year for casinos to win final approval.
Casinos as well as new developments over “religious liberty” and medical marijuana efforts at the Capitol helped bring a little kick Monday to the first day of the Georgia Legislature’s 2016 session. The pace is only expected to quicken, as statehouse leaders said they want to finish work earlier than usual by March 24.
On casinos, a current proposal — House Bill 677 — calls for up to six "destination" casino resort licenses that would be allowed across five geographic zones in Georgia: Atlanta, Columbus, Macon, Savannah and South Georgia.
Gov. Nathan Deal, however, has opposed the effort, and both state House and Senate committees that studied the issue last year couldn't agree on a tax rate.
"I really firmly believe we've got to do something this year," said the bill's author, state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. "We need to focus 100 percent on passing the constitutional amendment."
Stephens' companion legislation, House Resolution 807, proposes a constitutional amendment to allow casino gaming in Georgia. It's this second measure that will now be pushed by supporters, although it will still be a tall order: passage will require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate before it would be eligible for the November ballot.
Passage of HR 807, however, would neutralize Deal, since his signature is not required once those two-thirds majorities are reached. If voters approved the measure, Stephens said he would propose enabling legislation next year to set new casino gambling rules in Georgia.
Bringing casinos to Georgia is a popular idea: 62 percent of registered voters favor legalization of casino gambling in Georgia to support the state's HOPE scholarship and other education programs, according to an exclusive new poll from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No rush to proceed on religious liberty bill
Anyone expecting — or hoping or dreading — quick action on a religious liberty bill in a House committee may have to wait.
As things stand now, Senate Bill 129, sponsored by state Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, remains tabled in a House committee where supporters blocked its movement late in the 2015 session after moderate Republicans and Democrats attached anti-discrimination language that supporters say gutted the bill.
McKoon, speaking Monday on the Senate floor, urged quick action to free his bill for passage. But powerful House Judiciary Committee Chairman Wendell Willard, R-Sandy Springs, essentially shrugged: "That's a Senate bill," he said. "We don't get to Senate bills until after Crossover Day."
Crossover Day is the 30th day of the 40-day session and the deadline for a bill to move from one chamber to the other without much parliamentary maneuvering. The House and Senate will often spend the first 30 days of a session working on their own bills to make sure they beat that Crossover Day deadline.
Monday, of course, was only Day 1.
SB 129 — dubbed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and commonly referred to as RFRA — would require government to show a compelling interest for why its policy should override an individual’s religious freedom. The bill uses much of the same language as federal legislation that Congress passed in 1993 and has since been adopted in more than 20 states.
Supporters cast the legislation as a new line of defense to protect people of any religion from interference. Opponents warn it’s a discriminatory end run on the First Amendment that could allow business owners to cite religious beliefs to deny people service — and, in particular, gays and lesbians.
Fifty-three percent of registered voters said the state should pass a religious liberty bill, including 43 percent of Democrats and 50 percent of independents, according to the AJC poll. However, overall support for the bill plummeted to 27 percent when voters were asked whether the bill should pass even if it allowed a business to refuse to serve gays and lesbians.
Support builds to expand medical marijuana law
As for medical marijuana, state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, filed House Bill 722 last week to grow and cultivate medical marijuana in Georgia under strict controls to treat an expanded list of illnesses and conditions. On Monday, he announced almost 90 of his House colleagues had co-signed the bill, a significant development since the bill could pass the House with 91 votes.
HB 722 would create a maximum of six private, but state-licensed, growing operations to produce the cannabis oil, which lawmakers legalized in limited form last year. According to the AJC poll, 72 percent of registered voters believe the state should create a medical marijuana harvest and distribution system.
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