Latest news with #GeorgiaBaptistMissionBoard
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia legislature passes controversial religious freedom bill amidst partisan tensions
The Brief Mounting tensions between Republican and Democratic lawmakers have characterized the last days of the 2025 legislative session. Republicans passed controversial bills in the House and Senate, Wednesday, over the objection of Democratic colleagues. Friday is Sine Die, the last day of the session. ATLANTA - The final two days of the 2025 legislative session in Georgia have once again proved to be active, if not controversial. The penultimate day proved to be full of partisan tensions under the Gold Dome. What they're saying Senate Bill 36, the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act, is now headed to Governor Brian Kemp's desk despite efforts by House Democrats to kill the bill. Rep. Stacey Evans (D-Atlanta) opposes the legislation. She told House members, "I want to protect religion, and luckily I don't need to pass a law to do that. The federal constitution and the state constitution do that for me." Wednesday's vote was a victory for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and other conservative religious groups lobbying for the bill's passage. Supporters insist the 'Religious Freedom Restoration Act' ensures people of faith basic religious protections at the state and local level. "We want to make sure that freedom of religion has the same standard that freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly have," Georgia Baptist Mission Board spokesman Mike Griffin told FOX 5. The other side Georgia Equality Executive Director Jeff Graham and others who oppose the legislation insist it would allow people to use their religion as a free pass to discriminate against the LGBTQ community and others. "In other states where we have seen this, we have seen it used by Christian adoption agencies to turn away Catholic and Jewish couples who want to adopt children. We've seen it used in Texas to hold access to contraception and HIV prevention services. We've heard of instances where police officers have said they don't want to provide security to mosques and synagogues, and of course, there are numerous examples of gay and lesbian couples as they seek basic everyday services." Dig deeper Also this week, Senate Republicans advanced a DEI bill, over the objection of Democrats, that would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in all state public schools and universities. "The Republican party said they are going to take Georgia backwards to days when people didn't have full rights, and that's exactly what it was; it cannot be any clearer than that," Sen. Harold Jones II (D-Augusta) told reporters following the vote. The Source FOX 5's Deidra Dukes has been covering everything under the Gold Dome this legislative session in Georgia. Details in this article were gathered from the proceedings in the Georgia House and Georgia Senate.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Georgia misses out on millions from Super Bowl due to sports betting ban
The Brief As hundreds of thousands of people placed bets on the Super Bowl, analysts say Georgia is missing out on millions they could get from legalizing and taxing sports betting. The cybersecurity group GeoComply estimates Georgia could be getting $120 million annually from legalizing sports betting. State Rep. Marcus Wiedower (R-Dist. 121) is planning to bring a new bill to the legislature that would only legalize online sports betting. He says the funds from this measure would go toward education and helping those with a gambling addiction. Opponents of legalizing sports betting in Georgia, like the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, say the move would increase the rates of gambling addiction in the state. Experts say Super Bowl Sunday is the single biggest day for online sports betting in the U.S. But the practice is still illegal in Georgia and advocates for legalization say the state is missing out on hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue. At Stats Brewpub in downtown Atlanta, couple Louise Gericke and Matt Cox find themselves on opposing sides of the year's biggest sporting event, but that doesn't mean they still can't enjoy watching it together. What they're saying "We just don't talk about it until the game's done," Gericke said while laughing. Gericke said she wanted to bet on her team, the Philadelphia Eagles, but it's not legal in Georgia, so she had to get creative. "I placed a bet on the Eagles, but through my friend in Colorado, so hopefully I wind up winning!" she said. Click to open this PDF in a new window. Data from cybersecurity company GeoComply shows she's far from the only one who wishes they could bet on sports in Georgia. "Just this past NFL season we saw over 300,000 accounts alone in Georgia," said John Pappas, senior advisor at GeoComply. Click to open this PDF in a new window. The company makes sure people can only place online bets where it's legal. Pappas also shared data showing a large amount of people in Georgia crossing the border into Tennessee to place bets. What we know Pappas says according to their data, Georgia is missing out on a lot of money. "Estimates look at in a mature legal market in Georgia, the annual tax revenue for the state would be somewhere around $112-115 million annually," Pappas said. State Representative Marcus Wiedower plans to introduce a bill in the state legislature seeking to legalize sports betting, but only through online platforms. "I'll be introducing a constitutional amendment that would specifically just allow for online sports betting only. No brick and mortars, no casinos, horse racing kiosks, just online sports betting only," Rep Wiedower said. He says this constitutional amendment would have the revenue going into the Georgia Lottery, which helps fund education in the state. And he said a portion would go towards helping with gambling addiction. "We are allowing for up to $20 million a year to go towards problem gaming efforts," Wiedower said. Pappas says their data shows only those trying to gamble legally. So, the people who are actually betting on sports in Georgia is likely to be much higher. "We know that the illegal market is still very big in the U.S., particularly in states like Georgia, where they know they have a captive audience," Pappas said. Wiedower says his main objective with this bill is to try and curb illegal gambling in the state. "We're not doing anything to promote the gambling. We're merely trying to bring the people that are participating into the legal market, provide guardrails and regulation for it," Wiedower said. The other side Certain lawmakers in Georgia have tried to legalize sports betting in Georgia since 2019, when it was federally legalized. But groups like the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and Moms Against Gambling have opposed these measures from the start and continue to oppose it. They said they're worried doing this would increase rates of gambling addiction. "What we're going to see is it will exponentially make things worse. It's going to increase addiction, and we've already seen that addiction rates increase the potential of suicide rates," said Mike Griffin, Public Affairs Representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board. He acknowledged that many in Georgia are gambling illegally, but he says that's no reason to legalize it. "The Lord only knows what all is happening in our state that's illegal. That all doesn't need to be made legal," Griffin said. What's next If Rep. Wiedower's bill does pass this legislative session, it would mean the constitutional amendment would go onto the November ballot. If it gets passed by voters, then it likely wouldn't go into effect until 2027. The Source Information for this story was provided by GeoComply and from interviews conducted by FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Eric Mock.
