A major company in the casino industry is thinking about setting up shop in downtown Atlanta. One of their spokespersons said they have some interest in developing property there. But they have a lot of hurdles up ahead, one of the biggest being the fact that casinos are still illegal in the state of Georgia.
Over the past few years, lawmakers of the state have been playing with the idea of making casinos legal, including a plan to allow gambling in Underground Atlanta. A state representative has said that they would pick up the issue next year in the Hope Preservation Act, which should include legislation to allow a constitutional amendment to allow casinos and horse-race betting in Georgia. It’s believed that this move might be conducive to raising millions for the HOPE Scholarship, without even considering all of the possible jobs and other benefits.
But this move also has some strong opposition. The Georgia Baptist Convention issued the following statement “Creating jobs and raising funds for education is a bad rationale to attempt to legalize immoral behaviour in our state. We cannot become sold on the idea that the end justifies the means. It is as if many have become convinced that we can put money over morality and somehow morality will win out.”
All of this, of course, is just speculation since we’re talking about laws actually being passed for this to happen. But, maybe sooner than later citizens of Atlanta will be able to take a stroll to their local casino and have a night of fun and relaxation.