Casino news source: Sun Herald - http://www.sunherald.com/
Casino bills: A done deal comes undoneA failure of communication - or of Senate leadership?
By Geoff Pender
Coast business and government leaders are waiting for our Senate delegation to come skulking home from the 2008 session so they can ask them: What in the heck happened to the casino incentives bill so crucial to the revival/survival of Coast tourism?
Their next question will likely be: How do we fix this?
Right now, I can't really guess their answer to the first question. It appears from the outside that perhaps there was a fail-yuh to commun'cate. Or was it a failure of Senate leadership?
Without knowing all the inner workings of this goat rodeo, here's the basic story line:
Coast leaders wanted the Legislature to pass a bill to give casinos tax breaks if they spend big money on non-gambling developments - hotels, theme parks, water slides and so forth. In such a bill passed last year, anti-gambling forces in the stern Senate had casinos stripped out.
This go 'round, Rep. Diane Peranich and some other savvy House leaders had supposedly cut a deal with enough of the anti-gambling folks to get the incentives bill passed. In exchange for this, pro-gamblers would vote for a moratorium on new casino counties.
It was widely believed, from Chimneyville to the Tchoutacabouffa, that the deal had been struck and passage of both bills was imminent (never mind the oath lawmakers take not to vote on a bill in consideration for another. There ain't a single one of 'em up there that abides that oath more than 20 minutes after they're sworn in.)
Then the Baptists jumped in, leaning on lawmakers to snuff the incentives bill, of course, and the moratorium, unless it contained an absolute moratorium - no more casinos, period.
That's not so surprising, anti-casino groups coming out against casinos.
But then things got really weird. Three Coast senators - David Baria, Debbie Dawkins and Tommy Gollott - voted against the moratorium, and Sen. Billy Hewes III was absent. The bill failed by two votes, ending any chance of working the deal. Coast leaders were gasping at all this.
Baria and Dawkins said they support the casino incentives and were unaware a deal had been made. How in tarnation could this be?
And Gollott, the godfather of legalized gambling in Mississippi, voting nay? He said he just thinks the more the merrier, and doesn't want any moratorium on casinos.
Hewes, at least, had a more pious excuse for being MIA - he was off seeing the Pope in Washington.
So that's what happened, but I still don't know what happened.
What's next?
Gov. Haley Barbour is expected to call a special session for other matters soon, and Coast leaders hope they can get the incentives bill added to the agenda.
And most likely, Coast leaders will be - or should be - calling the new Senate leadership to remind them they promised to help this area continue it's Katrina recovery. |
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