January 20, 2025
The United States is a representative republic. This means that our government exists to protect and represent the interests of the people. Officials are elected to office based on their beliefs and policy positions when they run for office.
A recent poll in Georgia taken during the Republican primary indicated that a large majority of respondents did not want the “politicians in Atlanta” making decisions about gambling. Well, if that were true, then why would we need a legislature? The very point of these lawmakers is to exercise the primary responsibility of making those decisions, even decisions that will require citizens to vote on constitutional amendments.
Any additional gambling legalization would require voters to approve a constitutional amendment. But the legislature bears the responsibility of putting that amendment on the ballot.
The legislature has the responsibility to allow issues to be voted on only if the lawmakers believe it is in the best interest of the people they represent. Shirking that responsibility by saying, “We'll just let the people decide,” is an abdication of the legislature’s duty to determine if something is or is not good for the people of our state.
History has shown that most of the time, when a constitutional amendment is placed on the ballot, it will pass. I believe this is true because most citizens believe that a constitutional amendment would not be put on the ballot to be voted on unless it was something that would be good for the people.
Just a couple of years ago in a Senate hearing, some senators objected to putting the issue of recreational marijuana on the ballot because they did not want something that dangerous ending up being approved. Well, guess what? The same thing is true about gambling!
It is the legislature's responsibility to dig into the details of various issues to make sure they are weighed properly before they are put on the ballot for people to decide.
Data shows that when it comes to legalizing gambling, those who support the constitutional amendment will outspend those who are opposed by a $250 to $1 ratio. This means a lavishly funded propaganda campaign will be launched to influence people into thinking legalized gambling will have a positive impact, rather than a negative one, in the state. That's why these kinds of decisions need to be dealt with by the legislature, which has the duty and the resources to explore all aspects of the issue before deciding. Washing its hands of this process guarantees exposing citizens to a barrage of misleading claims that promote the interests of the (largely out-of-state) economic forces that would benefit from the expansion of legalized gambling.
Especially with respect to an issue that risks devastating many Georgia families, as gambling does, the legislature simply cannot honorably shirk its responsibility to make decisions for the good of our citizens. There's a sense in which the people will believe that the legislature is “for” the passage of this constitutional amendment simply by allowing it to be placed on the ballot. Therefore, in a very practical way, this is not a neutral decision.
Three years ago, when a mental health revision bill was passed, the co-author of that legislation, Rep. Todd Jones, said that to talk about the benefits of gambling without talking about the detriments was intellectually dishonest. But that’s exactly what will happen if the gambling industry's millions are allowed to swamp the debate on a constitutional amendment.
Data documenting the dangers of gambling expansion shows that they clearly outweigh the benefits. But once this issue makes it to the ballot, the commercial promotion of gambling and the perceived benefits will far outweigh the legitimate concerns.
This type of legislation needs to be thoroughly vetted and proven to be good for the people of Georgia before being allowed on a ballot. While it is true that there is a lot of illegal activity going on (particularly in the realm of sports betting), studies prove that the legalization of that kind of gambling will only make the impact worse.
Legalizing and regulating activity that is already happening in our state illegally is not a solution. In the case of sports betting, making it legal would be like adding gasoline to a fire that is already burning in the state. It’s just going to be worse – especially for young people, who can end up being targets for predatory gambling interests.
The legalization of gambling exponentially causes it to grow, increasing its negative impact. Georgia needs to do a better job of addressing the consequences of illegal gambling so that we do not increase the moral, economic, and mental health issues that are associated with any gambling expansion.
Data from the UK proves that the legalization of moral vices for the purpose of regulating them better is basically a placebo. In most cases, when you're talking about things like gambling, it is shown that it is the problem/addicted gamblers that produce the greatest amount of income to the industry. For example, approximately 80% of the income can come from up to 20% of the problem/addicted gamblers. In short, the gambling industry has a huge financial incentive that causes addiction, and it has a negative impact on those who are young too.
Data collected by Professor John Kindt documents the fact that expanding gambling only exacerbates the problems that we're already dealing with in our state. (The ABC's of Gambling Harms.)
It has already been proven that even from an economic standpoint, every dollar raised from gambling revenue costs the government another $3-$5 dollars in social expense. There is no way the government or the citizens can win with this kind of ratio. It simply makes no sense from a moral or economic aspect.
With all of the mental health issues today, especially those experienced by young people, do we really need more gambling? No, we do not. Statistics show that the further legalization of state-sponsored predatory gambling only increases addiction, which exponentially increases the suicide rate.
The bottom line here is that loving God and loving your neighbor is not expressed by allowing state-sponsored predatory gambling to be expanded in our state! Note this article on seeing gambling from a Christian worldview.
The Georgia General Assembly needs to evaluate the benefits, and the detriments, of increasing state-sponsored predatory gambling and prove that it is not in the best interests of our citizens to put it on the ballot and allow the citizens to be misled about its benefits.
In the state of Georgia, we do not need to expand the mental, social, and economic problems and detriments that are already happening in our state by justifying more gambling and using an excuse, “We just need to let the people decide.”
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Mike Griffin is the Public Affairs Representative of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
