The Jolt: Fireworks erupt in Senate committee as sports betting is revived
How did an innocuous measure honoring the annual soapbox derby race in Lyons, Georgia, suddenly morph into one of the Legislature’s most-watched bills this week?
It all unfolded early Thursday when Senate Economic Development Committee Chairman Brandon Beach announced a committee substitute for a House-passed soapbox derby bill, House Bill 237. The substitute bill, crafted until 9 p.m. the night before, added language to approve sports betting as a part of the Georgia Lottery.
It happened over the objection of the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Leesa Hagan, R-Lyons, who defiantly told legislators she had never seen the substitute didn’t want her proposal, which was her first bill as a lawmaker, “tarnished” by sports betting.
Hagan asked that her language be stripped out. “I don’t want my soapbox derby to be associated with sports betting,” she said.
State Sen. Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton blasted the last-minute switch.
“Whoever came up with this idea just set sports betting back five years,” Dugan said. “I cannot support this. It will not pass on the floor. I think everybody knows it will not pass on the floor and the damage y’all have just done to the sports betting industry is unfathomable to me.”
The force behind the new measure was Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, who told us in an interview he wanted lawmakers to deliver a “verdict” on what would be the first major expansion of gambling in Georgia since the lottery was approved more than three decades ago.
“As we keep wanting to expand HOPE into technical schools, and fund the scholarship at 100% tuition — which I agree with — we’re going to have to come up with other revenue sources,” said Jones. “And sports betting, to me, has been a bucket of money we keep walking past every year.”
The sports betting effort seemed doomed a few weeks ago, despite support from Jones and Gov. Brian Kemp. One measure that would have also allowed horse racing was rejected in the Senate, and another fell short of the two-thirds threshold it needed. Two others never reached a vote before the Crossover Day deadline.
But no bill is ever dead until the final gavel. House Speaker Jon Burns said as much last week when he indicated that he was open to its revival. Supporters of sports betting, a coalition that includes Atlanta’s pro sports teams, cast about finding another measure that had already cleared the chamber that could be co-opted. The soapbox derby measure was an easy target.
Jones was sanguine about his support for the idea: “It can generate tens of millions of dollars. It’s legal in about 36 other states. Why are we missing out on this opportunity?”
That doesn’t mean opponents of gambling are going down quietly now that the push appears to be on the fast track. Hagan called it “completely inappropriate.” And Jeanne Seaver of Moms Against Gambling said it was a “disgrace.”
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FUELED UP: State Rep. Michelle Au noted that there was no end to the corny puns and bad-dad jokes when the soap box derby measure came up for a vote in the House.
“Ironic that it’s now being used as a…vehicle?” she quipped.
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LISTEN UP. In the Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, we’re talking to the AJC’s Tamar Hallerman about the revelations she and Bill Rankin uncovered this week in interviews with five members of the Fulton County special grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump.
We also look at the biggest news out of the Legislature this week, including on sports betting and transgender care for minors. And we’re taking your questions on the PG podcast hotline.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
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KING OF COUNTRY? Gov. Brian Kemp will speak at the Republican National Committee’s spring retreat in Nashville alongside a host of other national GOP figures. Also scheduled to attend the April event are former President Donald Trump and ex-Vice President Mike Pence.
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UNDER THE GOLD DOME:
- The General Assembly is dark Friday. Members will return for work for the final full week of the year on Monday.
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ON THE MOVE. With time ticking to Day 40, here are the bills we’re still watching at the General Assembly:
- The House passed Senate Bill 140, which would ban transgender surgery and hormone replacement for minors. The bill was quickly transmitted to the Senate, which is expected to take it up early next week. Maya T. Prabhu covered the vote.
- Senate Bill 93, Sen. Jason Anavitarte’s bill to ban TikTok from state devices, was favorably reported by the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. That bill has already passed the Senate.
- House Bill 71, a bill to ban mining near the Okefenokee Swamp, is stalled, WABE reports, even with more than 90 bipartisan cosponsors. The legislation from state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, had its first hearing — at the subcommittee level, on Tuesday.
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ATLANTA SPA SHOOTINGS. Elected officials in Georgia and beyond paused on Thursday to mark two years since eight people were killed during a spree shooting that spanned three metro Atlanta spas.
Members of the General Assembly’s AAPI Caucus and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., gathered at the state Capitol for a ceremony that also featured survivors of gun violence.
State Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, read the names of the shooting victims aloud and noted that the House had just held a hearing on HB 161, the first hearing on a piece of gun safety legislation since the shootings.
“May our memories of them continue to be a blessing and may the injustice of these senseless losses continue to fuel the change we need to see,” she said.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock delivered remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday about the spa shootings. And U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai issued a joint statement marking the anniversary.
“The heinous murders were a national tragedy — one that not only brought visibility to the pain of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities, but also placed a spotlight on the violence, racism, and misogyny that Asian women across this country disproportionately experience,” they wrote.
There were also remembrance events held Thursday in Denver, Detroit, New York and San Francisco, according to the group Stand with Asian Americans.
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MORE INSULIN NEWS. Sanofi became the third major drug manufacturer to announce that it will lower insulin costs for consumers, capping the out-of-pocket price for a monthly supply for its most popular brand at $35 for those with private insurance.
The move Thursday came on the heels of similar announcements from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. And it led to a new round of victory laps from Democrats, including Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock who earlier this week sent letters to insurance companies and drug manufacturers pushing them on the issue.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden is hosting Leo Varadkar, taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland. There will also be a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon and shamrock presentation, along with more formal meetings.
- The U.S. Senate and House are done for the week.
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DOG OF THE DAY. Speaking of Irishmen, there is no other pup we could possibly consider for today’s Dog of the Day than MacMurray Riley, the Irish setter who calls AJC editor Kevin Riley his person.
Like all Irish Setters, MacMurray loves swimming, copious amounts of daily movement, and occasional Irish cheekiness. Unique to MacMurray is his love of University of Dayton basketball and reading the Jolt every morning.
May the luck of MacMurray be with you!
Send us your pups of any political persuasion — and cats, on a cat-by-cat basis — to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
About the Authors
Patricia Murphy is the AJC's senior political columnist. She was previously a nationally syndicated columnist for CQ Roll Call, national political reporter for the Daily Beast and Politics Daily, and wrote for The Washington Post and Garden & Gun. She graduated from Vanderbilt and holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.
Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution's chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
Tia Mitchell is the AJC’s Washington Bureau Chief and a co-host of the "Politically Georgia" podcast. She writes about Georgia’s congressional delegation, campaigns, elections and the impact that decisions made in D.C. have on residents of the Peach State.
