Governor may move against video poker

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Monday, April 30, 2001 | 10:55 a.m.

ATLANTA -- Gov. Roy Barnes might include a proposal to restrict video gambling during a special legislative session this summer.

A move to outlaw video poker machines in Georgia was defeated in the closing minutes of the regular session of the General Assembly this winter.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate want Barnes to expand the special session in July or August to address video poker and other machines they say are being used illegally to award cash prizes.

The machines flooded into Georgia after South Carolina outlawed them in 1999. Opponents say that waiting until next year will allow them to become more entrenched.

In recent correspondence with video gambling opponents, Barnes said he was "furious" that some lawmakers purposefully ran out the clock last month without addressing the problem.

"This cancer should not be allowed to grow in Georgia," Barnes wrote.