Gambling:

New gambling legislation has been introduced in the Georgia General Assembly via a constitutional amendment. SR 131 would legalize sports betting and casino gambling in Georgia by changing Georgia’s Constitution. It would also create a gaming commission to tax and regulate sports betting and casinos. Because it is a constitutional amendment, it must pass by a 2/3 majority in both the House and Senate and then get approved by Georgia voters. Status: Introduced.

Please contact your legislators in the state House and state Senate and ask for a “NO” vote on sports betting and casino gambling. We created the video below to explain our position on gambling along with additional resources.

Religious Liberty:

Senate Bill 36 — Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act — This bill mirrors the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). Put simply, this law would give Georgians their “day in court” to challenge the government if their local or state government infringed on their religious beliefs. Status: Introduced and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Citizen Impact now has a webpage dedicated to RFRA. We encourage you to review that page here.

Other bills we are tracking:

• SB 1 would prohibit biological males from participating in female sports in Georgia school systems. In the bill, female is defined as someone who has, had, will have, or except in “cases of genetic anomaly or historical incident” would be able to become pregnant or give birth. Status: Passed on the full Senate on 2/7. Now is sent to the House.
• HB 267, or the Riley Gaines Act, is a House Bill similar to SB 1. It also defines male and female strictly according to a person’s reproductive system. The bill prohibits biological males from playing in female sports or entering girl’s locker rooms and restrooms and vice versa. Status: Introduced and referred to the House Education Committee.
• SB 9 would prohibit creating and/or distributing obscene images of children using artificial intelligence. HB 171 is a similar bill that was introduced in the House. Status: Passed out of Senate Judiciary on 2/7. After the Rules committee puts in on the Senate calendar, it will be voted on in the full Senate before being sent over to the House.
• HB 328 deals with the “Qualified Education Tax Credit” used by so many of our schools. This bill would increase the annual aggregate cap on available tax credits from $120 million to $200 million and double the amount of time that donors have to submit their donation (from 60 days to 120 days). Status: Introduced on 2/6.

The following information is also good to share with your legislators.

**Please use these resources to help fight against the expansion of state-sponsored gambling:

• Fact Sheet – bad bet on expanding sports gambling
• Gambling – You Pay Whether or Not You Play
• Costs of Gambling
• The ABCs of Gambling
• Helpful article on how gambling targets our children – “Online betting comes for kids“