ATLANTA — A bill to legalize sports betting in Georgia is getting some attention at the capitol during the last two weeks of this yearly session. If that sounds familiar, it should.
Sports betting is backed by powerful interests and powerful legislators. And yet – its passage in the next 10 days is just as uncertain as it’s been for years.
"Final Four, March Madness – that is a cultural thing almost," state Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) told a House committee Monday. Cowsert stresses that he’s not a huge fan of sports betting.
But he’s backing a sports betting bill because he’s sure Georgians are betting on sports anyway – illegally – and the state isn’t getting a penny of the revenue.
"We have been betting (illegally) on college football and pro football in our state, our region, for generations," Cowsert told the House higher education committee.
Cowsert is among those trying to get the legislature to approve a measure to let voters statewide decide whether to change Georgia’s constitution to allow sports betting.
Ron Stephens has been trying for years to make it benefit the HOPE Scholarship.
"4.1 million Georgians have gotten an education on gambling. A lot of people don’t want to admit that, but it is gambling," Stephens said Tuesday.
While sports betting bills have passed the state Senate, the House of Representatives has declined to even vote on them for years.
Some lawmakers badmouthed the bill because the proceeds didn't include programs for lower-income Georgians, apart from HOPE.
"I’m one of those people – I could vote either way. But because I’m not getting anything and I don’t see my people getting anything, I can’t vote for it," state Rep. Rhonda Burnough (D-Riverdale) told the committee.
Others said the measure would only increase gambling-related problems.
"Go home and check your children's phones and their video games. This is the start of an addiction," said Jeanne Seaver, founder of Moms Against Gambling.
Backers have removed language that once included casinos and horse racing. The question is whether lawmakers will let voters decide on sports betting alone.
"Democracy is a pretty powerful thing. And I don’t think you can rightly criticize allowing the citizens of this state to decide what they do or do not want," Cowsert told the committee.
The committee did not vote on the bill, denying the measure standing to advance to the House floor.