Georgia Enters Debate over Gaming and the Budget
The question of legalizing gambling is taking center stage for many legislators and creating a new political debate to sort through. Georgia is another state that is taking on the issue full steam. Attorney General and Gubernatorial candidate Thurbert Baker would like to see gambling brought to the state’s budget. His hope is that gambling will fund the state’s education program for the coming years. Since the recession Georgia, like other states in the US, has found itself hampered financially by troubles due to the recession. Many programs have no option but to be cut if the state cannot find ways to bring in added revenue to sustain them.
Baker is just one of the legislators who is opting for bringing in casino gambling as a money-generating activity, rather than see huge education cuts in the budget, His main goal is to take the revenue from gambling and fuel it directly into the state’s education fund. He is currently estimating that over the next ten years gambling could bring in well over $2 billion in tax-revenue dollars. Much of Baker’s platform is dependent on the public perception of gaming and using it as a way to fuel the budget further in coming years. It may be difficult for people to say no to the huge estimate and naysayers are already accusing the Attorney General of gross exaggerations when it comes to the estimated revenue stream of gambling’s legalization in the state. They believe that the numbers will be much lower, and that they will be not as stable as reported by those who want to pass legislation for gaming.
The primary election in Georgia is July 20 and if Baker is going to make gambling a major issue in his platform, he needs to get the word out quickly. Voters are already forming preconceived notions of the issue and seeing this is Baker’s main focus in all his press, they may have already discounted him from the race. Right now Roy Barnes, the favorite candidate to win, is already winning votes by citing his decision to keep the issue in the hands of the people.
