Tag: Sports betting

Georgia's General Assembly went to the brink on Thursday night (28 March) and still it didn't legalise sports betting.

In fact, the package of bills that got through the senate in less than three weeks never even got in front of the full house for consideration.

Two amended legal sports betting bills – a constitutional amendment and enabling legislation – got out of the House Higher Education Committee early Thursday morning, although sources say the committee had the votes to move the package the previous night. That left about 15 hours to negotiate a deal before the session ended, but the Rules Committee – which met at least three times on Thursday – declined to consider the bills.

This was the fourth consecutive session during which Georgia lawmakers could not come to a consensus and the second time legal wagering became a political football.

In 2021, state Democrats pulled their support after Republicans passed a controversial voting rights bill. This year, the Repu..

Georgia's House Higher Education Committee further kicked a package of sports betting bills down the road today (25 March) and still does not have consensus on how tax revenue would be spent.

On Wednesday (27 March) the committee will likely vote on whether or not to increase the tax rate in the package of bills from 20% to 25%, eliminate promotional deductions for operators and change where funding is directed as Georgia sports betting legislation continues to be a hot topic.

But multiple sources on the ground in Georgia aren’t hopeful that the online wagering package will pass through the general assembly with just three legislative days remaining.

House sponsor Marcus Wiedower said he would provide committee members with updated language that includes the tax increase, promotional deduction change and a new breakdown of how the funds would be spent, before that meeting.

Earlier versions of the proposals have been approved by the senate, and senate sponsor Bill Cowsert sa..