Georgia gambling bill debate becomes personal as session enters homestretch

The Georgia state Senate struck down a gambling bill Thursday, greatly decreasing the odds that the state will expand legal wagering opportunities this year beyond online sports betting.

Senators voted 37-19 against Sen. Billy Hickman’s bill, which would have cleared the way for online sports betting companies to take bets in Georgia and also licensed three tracks across the state for horse racing. Two gambling bills remain in play this session, both limited to online sports betting.

Hickman, a Statesboro Republican, tried to convince his colleagues that expanding gambling under the Georgia Lottery would create jobs for horse breeders and tenders and bring in more state dollars for pre-kindergarten programs and the HOPE Scholarship.

“You’ve heard the stories about our pre-K not being fully funded. You’ve heard the stories about our children not attending pre-K. This will be additional money for that, and it also will be additional money for universities,” he said.

Hickman said the combined horse track and sports betting business was predicted to bring 8,500 jobs and a $1.1 billion economic impact along with between $250 million and $300 million a year to the Georgia Lottery, which funds pre-K and HOPE.

But other senators said the risks of expanding gambling would outweigh the benefits. Tyrone Republican Sen. Marty Harbin said gambling is a waste of money and ruins lives by causing addiction. He said he was concerned that legitimizing a process that goes on under the table could entice more young people to get hooked.

“There’s gambling going on as we speak – there may be gambling going on about this bill, whether it’s going to pass or not. I don’t know what the odds are, but I can guarantee you they’re gambling somewhere,” he said.

The debate over the bill became personal when Hickman asked Harbin whether his children accepted the HOPE Scholarship. Harbin said some of them did and some of them didn’t.

“So lottery funds helped fund your children’s education?” Hickman asked.

“A small part of it,” Harbin said.

“Don’t you think lottery funds also help fund a lot of your constituents’ children’s education?” asked Hickman.

“It funds my constituent’s education with the lottery that’s there,” said Harbin. “But I don’t believe that more gambling is healthy for our state and for our children.”

Harbin said rather than more gambling, he would prefer to see programs to make it easier for students to work their way through college and to help students who fall behind finish their degrees.