STATE GOP TAKES STAND AGAINST CASINOS

State committee passes resolution opposing gambling.

As Georgia legislators prepare for another allout debate over whether to legalize gambling, opponents have gained an important ally.

The Georgia GOP state committee overwhelmingly passed a resolution over the weekend that opposes casinos and horse racing.

John Watson, the recently elected chairman of the Georgia GOP, recused himself from the Saturday vote. Watson, a veteran operative and lobbyist, has advocated for legalizing gambling on behalf of Boyd Gaming Corp.

The resolution cited concerns that gambling is tied to increasing crime and divorce rates, and it warns that legalizing gambling could open the door “for any Indian tribe to venue shop for property to open casinos” around the state.

“The state should not have a vested interest in predatory activities such as gambling for the sake of filling state coffers at the expense of ruined lives and broken families,” the resolution states.

Casino advocates have sought for years to legalize gambling in Georgia, maintaining that it could bolster lottery-funded pre-k programs and the HOPE scholarship, which pays the in-state college tuition for students who maintain a 3.0 gradepoint average.

But the idea has triggered a flood of opposition from religious conservatives and other critics, and many united against legislation this year that would have allowed two “destination resort” casinos.

The resolution could have gone further. An initial version also would have included fantasy sports betting, but that was stricken from the text.

State Rep. Trey Kelley, who sponsored legislation to reclassify fantasy sports so it doesn’t violate anti-gambling restrictions, said he was grateful activists ignored “rhetorical cries” to include the online games in the resolution.

“The Georgia GOP faithful made a conscious decision to remove fantasy sports from this resolution,” he said.

“Their action is in line with my repeated statements and the beliefs of mainstream Georgians that fantasy sports is a game of skill and a completely different issue from casino gambling.”

‘The state should not have a vested interest in predatory activities .... ’

GOP state committee resolution