- Georgia voters were shut out of the sports betting conversation once again after Friday’s vote on HR 450 put the issue to rest for the year.
- Resistance to the bill spread across party lines, with both Democrats and Republicans arriving at their own separate grounds for voting it down.
- Georgia is one of a shrinking group of ten states yet to bring sports betting into legal territory.
ATLANTA – Georgia has yet to legalize sports betting, and following last week’s vote, that reality is not changing anytime soon.
A Friday vote on House Resolution 450 collapsed in the state House, with the final count landing at 63 in favor and 98 against — nowhere near the 120 votes required to advance the measure.
The timing of the defeat only added to the blow. In the legislative calendar, Crossover Day acts as a strict deadline. Before the session ends on April 2, bills must pass their original chamber or lose any genuine prospect of becoming law.
Importantly, nothing would have been automatically legalized by HR 450. It would have merely put the question on the ballot and allowed Georgians to cast their own votes. The motion suggested modifying the state constitution to permit sports betting, with the majority of tax proceeds going toward HOPE scholarships and pre-kindergarten programs, the same as how the Georgia Lottery now finances education.
A Divided House
Though for various reasons, opposition was present on both sides of the political landscape. The negative societal effects of gambling, especially its increasing influence on young males, alarmed several policymakers. Others believed that the related bill’s licensing structure unfairly granted professional sports groups automatic privileges without a competitive bidding process.
One of the more surprising opponents of the measure was Rep. Al Williams, a Democrat who has long supported casino growth. His opposition was based on his perception that Democratic legislators had been excluded from discussions about the real distribution of any tax income earned, rather than any objection to sports betting. Of Georgia’s 82 House Democrats, only 19 ultimately voted in favor.
The argument put forth by supporters was that Georgians are already using offshore platforms that provide no consumer protection or oversight. They claimed that incorporating those funds into a controlled system would increase tax collection significantly while maintaining user safety.
Under the companion bill, the tax rate on Georgia sportsbooks would have been set at 27.5% of adjusted gross income, with 16 total licenses available and a market launch no later than July 31, 2027.
Even while nearby states like Tennessee, Florida, and North Carolina have already made progress toward legal sports betting, Georgia is now one of the few states that have now.
Although most people think it is unlikely, there is still a remote possibility that legalization terminology could be added to another measure before the session concludes on April 2. For the time being, Georgia stays on the sidelines while neighboring states continue to collect taxes on sports betting that Georgia fails to pick up.
