Georgia Sports Betting Legalization Amendment (2022)

Georgia Sports Betting Legalization Amendment
Election date November 8, 2022
Topic Gambling
Status Not on the ballot
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

The Georgia Sports Betting Legalization Amendment was not on the ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.

Measure design

This measure would have amended the state constitution to provide for sports betting in Georgia.

Text of measure

Full text

The full text is available here.

Background

2018 Supreme Court ruling on sports betting

In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case, Murphy v. NCAA (originally Christie v. NCAA), regarding the legality of a law implementing New Jersey Public Question 1 (2011). On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the federal government could not require states to prohibit sports betting, thereby overturning the federal ban on sports betting and allowing states to legalize sports betting if they wish.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and Murphy v. NCAA

See also: Murphy v. NCAA

Murphy v. NCAA (originally Christie v. NCAA) was a case about the anti-commandeering doctrine, which is based on the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and dictates that Congress cannot commandeer state governments to enforce federal law. The question, in this case, was whether the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a federal law that prohibits states from authorizing sports gambling, violated the anti-commandeering doctrine.

The United States Congress passed PASPA in 1992. The act prohibited any governmental entity, including states, from sponsoring, operating, advertising, promoting, licensing, and/or authorizing by law any wagering scheme on amateur or professional team games. However, PASPA contained certain exemptions. One of those exemptions allowed New Jersey to enact a sports gambling scheme if the scheme were written into law within one year of PASPA's enactment. At that time, New Jersey declined to implement such a scheme, and the one-year exemption under PASPA expired.

Then, in 2011, New Jersey voters approved an amendment to the New Jersey Constitution authorizing the legislature to legalize betting on the results of professional, college, and amateur sporting events.

Based on the amendment, New Jersey passed the Sports Wagering Act of 2012. The law provided for regulated sports wagering in New Jersey's casinos and racetracks and established a state regulatory scheme for sports wagering in the state. Four professional sports leagues (the National Football League, Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and the National Hockey League) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (referred to together as the leagues) filed a lawsuit in federal court to stop enforcement of the New Jersey law, arguing that it violated PASPA. In response, New Jersey acknowledged that the law violated PASPA, but argued that PASPA violated the anti-commandeering doctrine and was therefore unconstitutional.

States with sports betting

As of September 1, 2022, sports betting was legal, or laws to legalize had been approved, in 36 states and D.C. The following map shows the status of sports betting in each state.

Sports betting ballot measures

As of 2021, five of the states to legalize sports betting did so through a ballot measure. All of the ballot measures were approved by voters.

State	Year	Measure	Type	'Yes' Percent	'No' Percent	Outcome
New Jersey	2011	Public Question 1	Legislative	63.91%	36.09%	a
Arkansas	2018	Issue 4	Initiative	54.10%	45.90%	a
Colorado	2019	Proposition DD	Legislative	51.41%	48.59%	a
Maryland	2020	Question 2	Legislative	67.07%	32.93%	a
South Dakota	2020	Amendment B	Legislative	58.47%	41.53%	a

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the Georgia Constitution

The legislature can put a proposed amendment on the ballot upon a two-thirds majority vote in both the legislative chambers. Constitutional amendments must be approved by a majority of the electorate.

2021 legislative session

This amendment was introduced as Senate Resolution 135 on February 19, 2021. It was passed in the Senate on March 5, 2021, by a vote of 41-10 with five excused or not voting. The measure did not pass in the state House before the 2021 legislative session adjourned.

Vote in the Georgia State Senate March 5, 2021
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 38  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	41	10	5
Total percent	73.21%	17.86%	8.93%
Democrat	16	3	3
Republican	25	7	2

2022 legislative session

In the 2022 legislative session, the House adopted an amended version of the bill on March 29, 2022, in a vote of 160-6 with 13 members absent or not voting. The measure would have required approval in the Senate again to be referred to the 2022 ballot.

Vote in the Georgia House of Representatives March 29, 2022
Requirement: Two-thirds (66.67 percent) vote of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 120  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	160	6	13
Total percent	89.39%	3.35%	7.63%
Democrat	61	6	10
Republican	99	0	3

See also

2022 measures

• 2022 ballot measures
• Gambling on the ballot

Georgia

• Georgia ballot measures
• Georgia ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Senate Resolution 135