Two House legislative pieces introduced in the 2019 session are proposing the legalization and regulation of domestic sports gambling.
Georgia first introduced a House Resolution on February 27th. The Resolution known otherwise as HR 380 was submitted to the General Assembly and would amend the state’s Constitution to authorize domestic sports betting activity, as well as, the licensing and taxation of GA sports gambling. The Resolution has six sponsors which include Kasey Carpenter, Craig Gordon, Billy Mitchell, Brian Prince, Mickey Stephens, and Ron Stephens.
HR 380 had its second reading in the House on March 1st, but there has been no action taken on the resolution since. While the resolution itself does not provide detail on the potential tax rate, licensing fee, or number of facilities which will be permitted to operate betting it does allow members of the General Assembly to vote on whether they favor this type of legalization. If the resolution obtains majority support for legalization, the constitution will be ratified to permit this kind of action.
The state’s House also introduced a bill for sports gambling legalization on March 5th known as HB 570 or the Georgia Sports Betting Act. House Bill 570 has one Republican Representative sponsor, Ron Stephens. The bill wholly intends to amend specific chapters of the Official Code of Georgia in relation to the lottery for education and provides more detail on the potential operation.
The House Bill would provide the Georgia Lottery Corporation with authority to regulate and issue licensing for legal sports betting, as well as, designate a Georgia Sports Betting Director to oversee these operations. The application fee to obtain a sports betting permit, under HB 570, is $20,000 and nonrefundable. Permits are valid for five years, and renewal fees for sports betting permit holders are set at $10,000.
Language within HB 570 hints at the allowance of online sports wagering through interactive sports betting operations. This bill also states that the Georgia Sports Betting Director shall not issue more than ten interactive sports betting permits.
Under this bill, betting on collegiate and professional sports would be permitted. HB 570 was last in the House on its second reading as of March 8th. There has been no reported action on the House Bill since. However, you can keep tabs on these bills by using our US betting bill state tracker.
