SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – Yet another sports gambling proposal failed in the State capitol this week.

This time the proposal to let voters decide if they want sports betting in Georgia didn’t even make it out of committee and onto the floor.

That doesn’t mean the idea is dead however.

Currently, there’s a prohibition on sports gaming in the Georgia constitution.

A State Senator who represents a part of Georgia near our area, brought forward a bill to remove that prohibition.

He was out voted in committee.

“All opposed raise your hand. Motion fails.”

The bill got little support, as another setback to sports gambling in Georgia came Thursday.

This attempt in particular grouped the idea with casinos, allowing Georgians the opportunity to vote on the topic.

But Thursday’s no vote in committee stops that, at least for now.

Republican Senator Carden Summers of the state’s 13th district brought the proposal forward.

“The word casino seems to conjure up something evil nasty or other. Let me just explain this to you, a casino is a business, period. You don’t have to go in, you don’t have to gamble.”

He says that applies to sports betting too. Summers also says gambling already exists in Georgia.

“Anybody in this room can go on your phone and get on the Georgia Lottery website and app and you can gamble 24 hours a day.”

The Senator says his proposal provides a multi-billion-dollar economic benefit that his proposal would distribute evenly across each county in the state.

He was met with pushback from people like Michael Griffin of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.

“For every dollar we raise its going to cost us 3-5 dollars in social expense so again you don’t have be the sharpest spoon in the drawer to realize economically that’s not even good.”

Sports gambling is legal in some form in about 80% of the country, but the folks against it at this meeting say Georgia should look at how that’s gone for other states and see the negatives.

Dr. Paul Kent, a former professor of law, business and economics said at the meeting, “99% of academics agree on this. Credible academics agree that this is lose lose for the states.”

Although this particular bill is now dead after being voted against in that Senate committee, sports gambling as a topic is not. Due to the way the Georgia legislature works, it can be tacked on to other legislation later on.

That doesn’t mean it will be, just that it can be.

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