Mississippi has a history of morphing legal gaming legislation into more than lawmakers claim they originally intended, and history may be about to repeat.
Thanks to legislation passed in 2016 and 2017 dealing with fantasy sports games, folks who like to bet on ball games may able to do so legally sometimes in the near future.
The recent legislation was in response to a state attorney general’s opinion in 2016 that fantasy sports constituted illegal gambling since contestants pay an entry fee which funds prize pools and such was not permitted under Mississippi’s gaming laws.
So the Legislature, in 2016, passed a bill temporarily legalizing fantasy sports and creating a commission to come up with rules and fees. This year the Legislature passed a law which allows the state Gaming Commission to regulate fantasy sports and to charge operators an 8 percent tax, same as the state tax on casino revenue.
As the legislation made its way to passage, language was included that seems to make regular sports betting, if it takes place in casinos, legal in the state, provided it isn’t against federal law which it is now.
But the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a New Jersey challenge to a federal law that bans sports betting in most states, Mississippi included. Some think there’s a good chance the ban will be overturned, and if that happens Mississippi casinos apparently will be ready to book bets on sporting events.
Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender wrote a long column on the subject Sunday in which he noted that Gov. Phil Bryant, Speaker Philip Gunn and others have voiced opposition to sports betting.
But, if the Supreme Court rules it can happen, don’t bet it won’t. There’s that 8 percent tax which will be mighty enticing.
It’s reminiscent of how legal gambling — now a major revenue producer both directly and indirectly for the state, got started.
State Sen. Bob Dearing, the Democrat from Natchez who also represents part of the McComb area, authored a bill in 1990 to let Mississippi River gaming boats dock in Natchez.
The late Bill Minor once wrote in a column:
“At that particular time, the grand old river city’s economy was suffering from a steep tourism decline. Fellow senators regarded Dearing’s bill as a local and private measure to help a single town. Traditionally such measures are approved without controversy. Despite the state’s Bible-belt image, the Senate let the bill slide through.
“However, a major rewriting of the measure took place in the House under the hand of shrewd Rep. Sonny Meredith of Greenville, the Ways and Means chairman. When Sonny got through with it, the bill applied to all ports along the Mississippi River, and boats did not even need to have an engine.
“Called up on a Friday afternoon when some senators had already gone home, the amended bill was adopted by a 22 to 20 vote and quickly cleared to then-Gov. Ray Mabus.
“Seeing the river counties getting into dockside gambling, Gulf Coast lawmakers were determined to not be left behind. Until then the only legal gambling offered to Coast tourists was on cruise ships that could pick up a batch of people who could not start to gamble until the ship reached international waters.
“Coastal lawmakers pressed the governor to call a special session of the Legislature to enact a broad gaming control law fashioned on Nevada’s laws. What has happened since is a dramatic economic development story that has created more than 30,000 well-paying jobs, hundreds of world-class hotel rooms, and other amenities.”
