Casinos are not the way to fund education in Georgia

Randy Hicks, President of Georgia Family Council
July 13, 2012

For voters in Georgia, a choice of candidates won’t be the only thing on their General Primary ballot on Tuesday, July 31. Voters, specifically Republicans, will have a chance to say “yes” or “no” to the question “Should Georgia have casino gambling with funds going to education?”

So why is this on the ballot and what are the possible ramifications?

Clearly the powers that be in the Republican Party are raising the proverbial finger in the air to determine which way the political winds are blowing on this issue. But a ballot question begs a question: is this a good idea? Should casino gambling be used to raise money for education?

This strategy – to justify gambling as a way to raise state revenue – is nothing new. The gambling industry, with an eye toward making tons of money, approaches lawmakers with a marketing angle to meet this objective. The first is that the revenue would help improve education. The second is that casinos are good for the community because they spur economic growth by creating jobs and raising tax revenue.

Both claims are misleading.

We heard these arguments made recently when the Georgia Lottery Board considered a proposal to build a casino in Norcross that would house 7,500 video lottery terminals. Funds generated by the casino would help fund Georgia’s increasingly cash-strapped Hope Scholarship, which gives well-performing students money toward in-state college tuition. The board rejected the idea for now, citing opposition from the governor and state lawmakers.

The July 31 ballot question presents the idea of casinos in the context of raising money for education – something many voters are hard-pressed to oppose. But more money is not what’s needed to improve education in Georgia. Research we conducted at Georgia Family Council found that despite more than doubling education spending in the past few decades, Georgia’s graduation rate hasn’t improved. Casino money isn’t what’s needed to improve education, innovative reforms and more parental choice are (but that’s a column for another day).

The gambling industry is adept at making people think they are doing something good when their gambling losses help fund education. And many states, including Georgia, have gone along with the idea. The Georgia Lottery puts our state government in the shameful role of enticing citizens to gamble away their money so that the state treasury can profit from those gambling losses. Imagine flashy, lottery-funding casinos that would do the same thing.

And it wouldn’t be just one casino. It’s certain that if one casino is built, then many more will follow. Cities like Savannah, Macon, Augusta and others would surely be targeted for big gambling facilities.

Whether it’s one casino or many, it won’t be the win-win for communities that it will be portrayed to be. There will be costs.

Multiple studies show that when gambling venues are introduced there can be damaging consequences for families and communities. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission reported that 28 percent of problem gamblers were either separated or divorced and that there are heightened levels of tension and stress in problem gamblers’ marriages and families. The report also found that the children of compulsive gamblers are often prone to neglect and abuse.

Dollars drain from the local economy and people lose their jobs as gamblers sink their money into the casino instead of local businesses – what researchers have called the “substitution effect.” Crime rates can also increase. Atlantic City saw crime go up 100 percent after casinos opened. And the list goes on.

Is this something Georgia wants? Endorsed by the state and justified as a way to help fund education?

The state government has plenty of legitimate ways to increase revenue that don’t exploit or prey on citizens the way gambling does. If it wants to improve education funding, increase revenues for HOPE Scholarships, or whatever else, then it should pursue it through taxation or better yet reworking the budget – and thus be answerable to the voters.

Building casinos and luring gamblers to play so that their losses can be scooped up by the state is an unseemly way for Georgia to raise money – especially in the name of helping students. In the end, the casinos benefit a few at the expense of many.

Randy Hicks is the president of Georgia Family Council, a non-profit research and education organization committed to fostering conditions in which individuals, families and communities thrive. For more information, go to www.georgiafamily.org, (770) 242-0001, stephen.daniels@georgiafamily.org.