Georgia Gaming Study Committee Begins Review, Proponents Tout Economic Benefits
Posted on: July 29, 2025, 12:59h.
Last updated on: July 29, 2025, 01:19h.
- The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming met for the first time this week
- The committee will make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding gaming bills
- Georgia doesn’t presently have commercial or tribal casinos, sports betting, or parimutuel wagering
The Georgia House Study Committee on Gaming, initiated through a House resolution approved earlier this year, held its first meeting this week at the Oconee County Administrative Building in Watkinsville.
The Gaming Study Committee is tasked with analyzing how the liberalization of certain forms of commercial gambling, as approved by the people and enabled by the General Assembly, might benefit the Peach State.
The nine-member bipartisan committee consists of Chair Marcus Wiedower (R-Watkinsville) and Reps. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), Alan Powell (R-Hartwell), Matt Hatchett (D-Dublin), Yasmin Neal (D-Jonesboro), Chuck Martin (D-Alpharetta), Al Williams (D-Midway), Holt Persinger (R-Winder), and Stacey Evans (D-Atlanta).
One of 16 House study committees this legislative offseason, with committees probing everything from marijuana to election procedures, the gaming group will make recommendations to the General Assembly regarding casinos, sports betting, and parimutuel wagering by December 1.
Yearslong Discussion
Georgia is one of only five states that don’t have commercial or tribal casinos, sports betting, or parimutuel wagering. The others are Alabama, Hawaii, South Carolina, and Utah.
Lawmakers in Atlanta have repeatedly discussed bills and referendums seeking to end the state’s gambling prohibition aside from the state-run lottery and certain small charitable games.
We’ve been talking about this issue since my hair was black,” said Stephens, 71, a Republican who has supported gaming expansion throughout his nearly three decades in the state House of Representatives.
Stephens chairs the House Economic Development & Tourism Committee and has repeatedly backed bills to authorize casinos and sports betting. Williams is the president-elect of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States. The organization doesn’t promote or oppose gaming, but regularly meets to discuss the proper regulation of the industry.
Powell, asked to give a historical summary about gambling legalization failures, explained to the committee and public in attendance that previous study committees on the matter have concluded that the legislature lacks the authority to legalize casinos or sports betting without a constitutional referendum approved by voters.
The state constitution does not allow for gambling,” Powell explained.
Powell, who served on a 2019 gaming committee, said the Georgia Lottery, which benefits education through the HOPE Program (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally), has been a roaring success.
No matter what someone wants to say about the evils of gambling — there’s a lot of evils in this world — people like to gamble,” Powell said.
Ed Clark, president of EchoPark Speedway, which was known for decades as Atlanta Motor Speedway, encouraged the committee to recommend that the legislature initiate legislation to conduct a casino referendum. Clark and Speedway Motorsports, which owns the track — home to NASCAR’s Ambetter Health 400 and Quaker State 400 — has expressed interest in building a casino destination at the Hampton facility.
We’re looking to broaden our business footprint by partnering with an experienced operator for a fully integrated, high-quality resort with a hotel, casino, convention space, dining facilities, and amusement activities,” Clark testified.
“How would this benefit Georgia? New business means new jobs,” Clark said.
Religious Opposition
Georgia is squarely in the Bible Belt, and Mike Griffin, the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s public affairs representative, a mainstay in General Assembly whenever so-called “sin industries” are mulled, pleaded with the Gaming Study Committee to refrain from allowing what he believes is a morally unacceptable industry.
Griffin added that, regardless of morality, the “data” proves that it’s “intellectually dishonest” to talk about the benefits of gambling without talking about the detriments.
You might not ride a high moral horse on whether you think it’s right or wrong, but what about the data? What does it [gaming] have related to economics? What about crime? What about addiction?” Griffin asked.
House Gaming Study Committee Chair Wiedower told Griffin he would “love” to see his “passion in other avenues, not just in gambling.”
The committee has not announced when its next meeting will be held, though Wiedower says it will likely be towards the end of August.
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