May 4, 2024
ATLANTA – Pro-gambling lawmakers continue to push for a constitutional amendment in Georgia that would lift a longstanding ban on horse racing, potentially opening the door to the kind of gargantuan gambling terminals that are popping up in Kentucky and other states that allow pari-mutuel wagering.
“This legislation is not about gathering a bunch of horses and racing,” said Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the 1.4-million member Georgia Baptist Mission Board. “It’s going to involve other things.”
Griffin told lawmakers last week that pari-mutuel wagering would be only a first step toward full-blown casinos.
Georgia’s current constitution does not allow pari-mutuel wagering, the system of betting used by horse tracks.
To add Georgia to the list of states open to pari-mutuel wagering would require the support of two-thirds of the state’s lawmakers, after which the issue would be placed on the ballot for voters to ratify or reject.
Griffin said pro-gambling lawmakers have adopted the mantra, “Let the voters decide.” But he said voters elected lawmakers to stand against predatory gambling.
If lawmakers allow the matter to go to a ballot referendum, Griffin said, pro-gambling forces will pump big bucks into slick advertising campaigns to bamboozle voters.
“We’ll be outspent 250 to 1 if it ever gets to the ballot,” he said.
Griffin said Georgians who oppose gambling can’t let their guards down because pro-gambling forces are pushing hard.
“They are going to do what they can where there is a path of least resistance,” he said.
