Lottery subcommittee advances bill to require COAM rulemaking follow Administrative Procedures Act

The lottery oversight and gaming subcommittee of the Georgia House Regulated Industries Committee voted to pass House Bill 74 (LC 2806 45), a bill that would require that rules and rule changes adopted for the COAM industry follow the Administrative Procedures Act and be subject to public hearings and legislative committee review.

Chairman Alan Powell presented House Bill 74 to the subcommittee and described it as a corrective measure after last year’s work on COAM-related legislation. “Last year, we passed House Bill 353, which ... raised the tax on the COAM industry to help fund pre-k,” Powell said, and he told the subcommittee that rule-making for the industry “needed to be scrutinized under the Administrative Procedures Act.” He said the bill would require public hearings for lottery commission rule changes and submission of rules or rule changes to the House Regulated Industries Committee and the Senate committee on economic development.

Powell said the change is largely a cleanup of a drafting error from the previous session that left inconsistent language about whether COAM rulemaking was subject to the Administrative Procedures Act. A motion to pass House Bill 74 (LC 2806 45) carried on a voice vote; the subcommittee chair announced, “Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.” The subcommittee instructed that the bill be signed up and sent on to the House Rules Committee and noted the bill will appear on the calendar in the coming week.

Ending: House Bill 74 was advanced out of the lottery oversight and gaming subcommittee by voice vote and will proceed to the House Rules Committee for scheduling; no roll-call vote tally or recorded dissent appeared in the subcommittee transcript.