Sports betting legislation fails to come to fruition in Georgia

Legalized sports betting’s journey came to halt in Georgia last week after the House of Representatives failed to give the green light to either bill.

Despite both Senate Bill 386 and Senate Resolution 579 passing in the Georgia House Higher Education Committee in February, both failed to be passed before the clock ran out on the state’s final legislative session on March 28. 

This came after both pieces of legislation failed to be heard by the House Rules Committee, despite the group meeting three times on the final day of the legislative session.

However, neither were placed on the House calendar for the final two legislative sessions and, when it adjourned in the early hours of Friday morning after lawmakers worked past midnight, the opportunity for sports betting to be legalized this year was missed.

According to various reports, including from sports betting information site Covers.com, disagreements over where the proceeds of sports betting were distributed halted the legalization of sports betting from progressing.

Initial proposals saw 15% of tax revenues to be donated to a responsible gambling fund to be capped at $150m.

The remaining 85% would have been given to the Educational Opportunity Fund which breaks down to HOPE Scholarship funding, pre-kindergarten funding, and educational training.

Had it been agreed upon, the legislation still needed two-thirds of lawmakers in the House to approve legalized sports betting.

Republican representative Kasey Carpenter confirmed that the disagreements had taken place over where the money would be going.

Carpenter said last Wednesday: “I just hate to see it all fall apart over how the money is going to be divided because, at the end of the day, I think it’s going to provide funds that aren’t being provided to education and in the long run will be better for all Georgians.”

Democratic representative Sam Park noted it would need both parties to come together for legislation to sports betting to pass in the state in the future.

Park added: “I hope that as this issue proceeds, there will be an opportunity again for this issue to garner bipartisan support, as bipartisan compromise will be needed on both the House and Senate floor.”

The failure of legalized sports betting follows the potential legalization of daily fantasy sports bill meeting the same fate in the Georgia House of Representatives last month.

The earliest sports betting in the Peach State can be legalized is now 2025.