Mississippi House Kills Bills to Help Build A Casino in Capital City, Jackson

The Mississippi House of Representatives on Wednesday dismissed a bill that would’ve helped build a casino in the capital city of Jackson.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Trey Lamar (R-Senatobia) motioned to table House Bill 1879 when it reached the floor. The bill and its ambitions to build another Mississippi casino were pronounced dead following a vote shortly thereafter.

Chirs Bell (D-Jackson), the bill’s sponsor, said he was disappointed in the decision and will make another attempt at passing a bill next year.

Standing pat

While the decision was made swiftly, Lamar said that he believes the topic of a Jackson casino is important and worthy of discussion.

“We didn’t have the votes,” Lamar said. “We felt like it was worth a conversation. Last year it got brought up in committee and didn’t get brought out of committee. This year it made it out of committee and got brought out to the floor.

“Anytime private investors are willing to invest hundreds of millions in downtown Jackson, we think that’s worthy of a conversation.”

The bill, known as the City of Jackson Revitalization Act, would have allowed a gaming entity already licensed in Mississippi to build another facility in the state capital. That means that the state regulator wouldn’t have needed to license another operator.

It required a $500 million commitment to a facility inside downtown Jackson’s Capitol Complex Improvement District, an area established in 2017 that houses the State Capitol Building.

“This is an opportunity for the city of Jackson to take advantage of opportunities that have been passed over for several years now,” Bell said before Wednesday’s vote. “This act provides economic stimulus to the city of Jackson and developers who want to come inside the city of Jackson.”

Trying to revitalize Jackson 

Plans outlined in the bill illustrated a vision for the casino-resort, which would have sat 6,000 feet from the Capitol building. The facility would’ve had hundreds of hotel rooms, an RV park, restaurants, and plenty of gaming space.

It also would’ve created up to 6,000 jobs and generated a maximum of $70 million, per Visit Jackson’s estimates.

Mississippi law states that casinos can only reside along the Mississippi River and Gulf Coast, or on tribal land. Bell’s act included a provision that would’ve changed that.

Critics of the bill suggested that the operators of the casino would’ve been granted a monopoly if they were allowed to build the only facility in the most populated city in the state. Lamar said he heard that several developers were interested in building a casino in Jackson if the legislation was adopted.

“I’ll do anything I can to help the city of Jackson, but I’m not going to destroy markets on the river,” House Minority Leader Robert Johnson said. “Jackson needs a lot of things. I don’t think a casino solves their problems.”

The Mississippi House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday also proposed a tax increase on casinos as a way to hit back at the Senate, which has been the source of death for several recent attempts to legalize sports betting.