HB 686 Georgia House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Georgia Sports Betting Act; enact

Summary

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 50 of the O.C.G.A., relating to state government, so as to authorize and provide for the regulation and taxation of sports betting in this state; to amend Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the O.C.G.A., relating to gambling, so as to exclude from the definition of "bet" any consideration paid to a sports betting licensee; to provide for the exemption of persons lawfully engaged in online sports betting from regulations and restrictions regarding gambling information; to amend Title 48 of the O.C.G.A., relating to revenue and taxation, so as to exempt wagers placed as part of sports betting; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Issues: ✓ Budget & Taxes

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 28, 2025 Last action Mar 6, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

LC 55 0586S/hs → LC 56 0648S/hs · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill underwent a significant restructuring of its administrative and legal framework. The most critical change is the replacement of a specific dispute resolution clause with a new provision that explicitly subjects licensure, rules, and hearings for sports betting to the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act. Additionally, the bill's title was updated to reflect the 2026 legislative session, and the text of the 'Georgia Sports Betting Act' was reformatted with new line breaks and paragraph numbering.

Scope change

The scope of administrative oversight was clarified by explicitly including the promulgation of licensure rules and administrative hearings under the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act, whereas the previous version had a different structure for handling disputes between licensees.

ENFORCEMENT

Replaced a clause regarding disputes between licensees with a new provision stating that all licensure, rules, regulations, and administrative hearings for sports betting are governed by the Georgia Administrative Procedure Act.

TECHNICAL

Updated the document header and page numbering to reflect the 2026 legislative session (LC 56 0648S) instead of the 2025 session.

Reformatted the text of the 'Georgia Sports Betting Act' by adjusting line breaks and paragraph numbering, though the substantive content of the findings remains the same.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 6, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute

lower

Apr 4, 2025

Committee

House Withdrawn, Recommitted

lower

Mar 6, 2025

Lower · Passed

House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute

lower

Feb 28, 2025

Introduced

House Hopper

lower

5 primary · 0 co-sponsors