A new effort is underway to bring casinos to Georgia but this time the seven-letter word is not in legislation being introduced in both the House and Senate.
Sen. Brandon Beach (R-Alpharetta) and Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) want to instead bring “resort destinations” to Georgia.
“This is a $2 billion minimum investment in Atlanta (and a) $450 million minimum investment in a secondary market creating 5,000 jobs in Atlanta and thousands of jobs in a secondary market,” says Beach.
Stephens’ plan differs a bit allowing up to six secondary markets.
“So that we don’t have to visit this issue again if it proves, and we think it will, that it doesn’t cannibalize the current lottery system,” he says.
Both measures call for a constitutional amendment that must be passed by two-thirds of state lawmakers before it would go before voters in 2018.
The establishments would pay a 20 percent tax the state with 70 percent of the proceeds going to fund the HOPE Scholarship and 30 percent towards a new needs-based scholarship.
But Mike Griffin with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board calls it a bad bet.
“We’ve had stats over the years that shows that crime goes up, bankruptcies go up, addiction goes up, jobs go down, savings go down and spending on basics goes down,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition also plans to fight it.
“I think it’s very deceptive to call it anything besides a casino bill,” says Regional Director Virginia Galloway.
She would rather see the state manage HOPE funding better without introducing more gambling to the state.
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