Mississippi's East Biloxi casino project in jeopardy, Jackson gaming bill repealed
It's been a busy week on gambling at the Mississippi State Capitol, with a powerful lawmaker proposing approval of a commercial casino resort in Jackson and other legislation that would block a $300 million gambling project planned for the Gulf Coast.
Mississippi House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Trey Lamar (R-Lafayette) introduced a bill Monday that would allow casinos to open in the state capital of Jackson. Because Mississippi's gambling industry had been limited to the coast and the Mississippi River for decades, the playing field appeared to be extremely difficult from the start.
Lamar's casino promotion would allow the stakeholders behind the state's current commercial casinos to bid for resorts in the state capital. Mississippi currently has 12 casinos on the Gulf Coast and 14 along the Mississippi River. The state is also home to three Native American gaming sites.
Lamar's enthusiasm to build casinos in the central part of the state was quickly met with resistance. The Republican relented and withdrew the bill after realizing he lacked the necessary votes in the 122-member House, but said he would fight again next year.
Vicksburg Opposition
Jackson is Mississippi's most populous city with approximately 144,000 residents.
Named for General Andrew Jackson, a war hero at the Battle of New Orleans in 1812 who later became the seventh president of the United States, Jackson's population continued to decline. Jackson experienced the largest exodus of any major U.S. city between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Lamar's casino bill proposes that gambling resorts would create more than 1,000 jobs and generate new local tax revenue for city improvement projects. But state officials at the Vicksburg casino and the city about 50 miles west of the capital, the closest gambling destination, quickly rejected Lamar's capital casino activity.
Coast may survive, but others may not," House Speaker Robert Johnson (D-Natchez) said of the Jackson casino's impact on the current gambling market.
“This would be devastating,” added Rep. Oscar Denton (D-Vicksburg).
Tide Rental Invoice
After Hurricane Katrina, the state changed its riverboat laws to allow land-based gambling along the Gulf Coast. However, fixed playgrounds must be located within 800 feet of the average high water mark over the past 19 years.
The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled last year that Gulf Coast counties have the right to sell land bordering state-owned mudflats without first obtaining a mudflat lease from the state. The decisive ruling paves the way for businessman Ray Wooldridge's long-stalled casino project at the intersection of Veterans Boulevard. and Beach Blvd. go ahead.
As a result of the ruling, state lawmakers are considering a law that would require casino venues to enter into state mudflat leases. The bill is currently before a House conference committee, which is trying to resolve differences between the two chambers.
As Woolridge develops, the outcome of the legislation could determine whether a $300 million casino project in East Biloxi called Tullis Gardens moves forward. The project's developers have reached an agreement with Biloxi to purchase the eight-acre parcel from the city, which includes mudflat access, to make the project eligible for gaming.
The state's current gaming interests are believed to be lobbying the state for a Tidelands Act to give Jackson more control and prevent more competition from coming to the Bay Area. Gross gaming revenue on the Gulf Coast fell nearly 1 percent last year.
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Source: www.casino.org