Approval for Katrina-Devastated Casinos to Move Inland Sparks Debates
The Mississippi State Senate voted earlier this week to allow casinos along Mississippi’s coast to rebuild on dry land instead of restricting them to floating barges. The movement of casinos inland has sparked debates within the Christian community.
The Mississippi State Senate voted earlier this week to allow casinos along Mississippi’s coast to rebuild on dry land instead of restricting them to floating barges. The movement of casinos inland has sparked debates within the Christian community.
In a 29-21 vote, the Senate passed a bill on Monday permitting casinos to build within 800 feet of water. The legislation is currently waiting to be signed by Gov. Haley Barbour who has already announced that “he will sign the bill into law soon after it hits his desk,” according to SunHerald, a South Mississippi newspaper.
Prior to the bill, Mississippi’s law prohibited casinos from building on land, restricting them to barges along the Gulf Coast. However, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina has led to the proposal of lifting the restriction and allowing casinos to rebuild on land.
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Opponents of the new bill believe it will be the beginning of the expansion of casinos and their rights in the state, while supporters believe the legislation offers a good opportunity to provide jobs and recover the economy in Mississippi.
Don Wildmon, the chairman of the American Family Association, gave an example of the casinos’ already expanding rights, noting that after the bill was passed, another casino bill was proposed, granting rights to casinos.
“Immediately after the legislature gave the gamblers the right to expand their casinos to on-land buildings, even before the ink had dried on the bill, another bill was introduced that would lower the tidelands rent they paid the state,” said Wildmon to Agapepress.
Wildmon explained that if the casinos remain on barges then their rent will decrease and “the casinos which choose to move onto land won’t pay the state and rent at all.”
During the bill hearings, State Rep. Deryk Parker held up a sign reading “casino” with the word “sin” in red.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is my Mississippi, too,” Parker said, according to the Associated Press. “And I don’t want that type of reputation for my state, for me or my children.”
Supporters, however, say that the casinos building on dry land will be an important part in the recovery of the region, with Mississippi casinos employing almost 29,000 people and providing a state revenue of $500,000 a day according to Reuter.
“We have a lot of casino workers here and we don’t take a stand,” Ersell Mason, a deacon at the Lighthouse Apostolic Holiness Church told AP. “It’s all about jobs.”
“God wants you to come to him and be a Christian,” he added. “You can still do your job and come to Him.”
Meanwhile, the federal government is also considering helping the gambling industry on the coast. In a recent announcement, Congress said it was considering a bill that would give approximated $500 million in tax credits to the casinos on the coast to help them rebuild in the aftermath of Katrina.
“The casinos didn’t even ask for the half-billion dollars in tax credit. The administration simply made a decision to include them,” said Wildmon. “The gambling industry has never received government aid in the past. But now all that is changing. Gamblers will be treated as a legitimate business and our government will go to their aid with our tax dollars – hundreds or millions of dollars.”
In addition to American Family Association, Christian leaders such as those from the Mississippi Baptist Convention, which makes up 25 percent of the state’s population, has protested the moving of casinos to land, “arguing that they foster gambling addiction and do not help families” according to Reuters.
AP reported that about 50 Baptist pastors throughout Mississippi gathered at Jackson to urge legislators to not pass the bill allowing casinos on land.
Tommy Truhett, a member of the First Baptist Church in Gulfport, which is located blocks from the casinos disagrees with supporters of the bill that rebuilding casinos on land is the answer to reviving the state economically.
“The answer to our problems is not the gambling. The answer to our problem is not the politicians,” Truhett told AP. “The Lord is the answer.”
“The gamblers won, the people lost,” said Wildmon. “And in years to come – and only in years to come – the people will realize what all they’ve lost. They really lost the future of their children, and I think that’s going to become evident as years come and go.”
Hurricane Katrina greatly damaged the $2.7 billion gambling industry in Mississippi after it hit the gulf coast on Aug. 29. AP reported that the hurricane closed down the casinos along the Mississippi Coastline as well as New Orleans’ downtown casinos and three riverboat casinos in the area. Furthermore, Hurricane Rita closed down six casinos in Lake Charles and an Indian reservation casino. Louisiana and Mississippi are the only two Deep South states with Las-Vegas style casinos.
