Mississippi Senate poised to give millions in tax rebates to casinos
Contact Your State Senator Today To Oppose House Bill 1142
The Mississippi Senate is set to give casinos a tax rebate program which could run into millions of dollars.
House Bill 1142 – Tourism Project Sales Tax Incentive, which has passed the House and will soon be voted on in the Senate, is designed to create an incentive for persons, corporations or other entities to locate certain tourism projects with the state of Mississippi. These projects could include but are not limited to theme parks, entertainment complexes, motor speedways, marinas, museums and cultural or historical interpretive educational centers. Golf courses and hotels that meet certain criteria could also be included.
This bill is a tax rebate program that allows the investor a rebate up to 30% of the estimated cost of the project paid out over a maximum of ten years. A 100 million dollar project could possibly earn 30 million dollars in tax rebates the first ten years of operation.
According to Dr. Jimmy Porter, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Christian Action Commission of the Mississippi Southern Baptist Convention, this bill grants to the casinos and the gambling industry an incentive to enlarge their holdings at the taxpayer’s expense. Tax dollars should not be used to entice more individuals to visit their facilities.
Listed below are members of the Mississippi Senate who voted to expand gambling by allowing the casinos to move onto land. If these senators voted to expand gambling and now vote to give the gambling industry millions in tax rebates, their position on gambling is clear—they feel they need to help the gamblers.
The following Senators voted to allow casinos to expand gambling onto land.
Sidney Albritton, Picayune
Terry Brown, Columbus
Terry Burton, Newton
Mike Chaney, Vicksburg
Eugene Clarke, Hollandale
Scottie Cuevas, Pass Christian
Doug Davis, Southaven
Deborah Dawkins, Pass Christian
Bob Dearing, Natchez
Ralph Doxey, Holly Springs
Alice Harden, Jackson
William Hewes, Gulfport
John Horhn, Jackson
Robert Huggins, Greenwood
Robert Jackson, Marks
Samuel Jackson, DeKalb
David Jordan, Greenwood
Dean Kirby, Pearl
Ezell Lee, Picayune
Walter Michel, Jackson
Tommy Moffatt, Gautier
Ed Morgan, Hattiesburg
Lynn Posey, Union Church
Thomas Robertson, Moss Point
Charlie Ross, Brandon
Willie Simmons, Cleveland
Billy Thames, Mize
Johnnie Walls, Greenville
Gloria Williamson, Philadelphia
Voting Present
Tommy Gollott, Biloxi
Take Action
Email your State Senator in opposition to House Bill 1142. HB 1142 has passed the House of Representatives, the Finance Committee of the Senate and is now on the Senate Calendar waiting action by the full Senate. In addition, please call your Senator and ask him or her to vote against HB 1142. Ask them to support an amendment that would exclude the casinos and the gambling industry from this bill. If the bill cannot be amended then ask them to defeat HB 1142. The number to call your senator is 601-359-3770.
Email your State Senator in opposition to House Bill 1142
The Mississippi Senate is set to give casinos a tax rebate program which could run into millions of dollars.
House Bill 1142 – Tourism Project Sales Tax Incentive, which has passed the House and will soon be voted on in the Senate, is designed to create an incentive for persons, corporations or other entities to locate certain tourism projects with the state of Mississippi. These projects could include but are not limited to theme parks, entertainment complexes, motor speedways, marinas, museums and cultural or historical interpretive educational centers. Golf courses and hotels that meet certain criteria could also be included.
This bill is a tax rebate program that allows the investor a rebate up to 30% of the estimated cost of the project paid out over a maximum of ten years. A 100 million dollar project could possibly earn 30 million dollars in tax rebates the first ten years of operation.
According to Dr. Jimmy Porter, Executive Director-Treasurer of the Christian Action Commission of the Mississippi Southern Baptist Convention, this bill grants to the casinos and the gambling industry an incentive to enlarge their holdings at the taxpayer’s expense. Tax dollars should not be used to entice more individuals to visit their facilities.
Listed below are members of the Mississippi Senate who voted to expand gambling by allowing the casinos to move onto land. If these senators voted to expand gambling and now vote to give the gambling industry millions in tax rebates, their position on gambling is clear—they feel they need to help the gamblers.
The following Senators voted to allow casinos to expand gambling onto land.
Sidney Albritton, Picayune
Terry Brown, Columbus
Terry Burton, Newton
Mike Chaney, Vicksburg
Eugene Clarke, Hollandale
Scottie Cuevas, Pass Christian
Doug Davis, Southaven
Deborah Dawkins, Pass Christian
Bob Dearing, Natchez
Ralph Doxey, Holly Springs
Alice Harden, Jackson
William Hewes, Gulfport
John Horhn, Jackson
Robert Huggins, Greenwood
Robert Jackson, Marks
Samuel Jackson, DeKalb
David Jordan, Greenwood
Dean Kirby, Pearl
Ezell Lee, Picayune
Walter Michel, Jackson
Tommy Moffatt, Gautier
Ed Morgan, Hattiesburg
Lynn Posey, Union Church
Thomas Robertson, Moss Point
Charlie Ross, Brandon
Willie Simmons, Cleveland
Billy Thames, Mize
Johnnie Walls, Greenville
Gloria Williamson, Philadelphia
Voting Present
Tommy Gollott, Biloxi
Take Action
Email your State Senator in opposition to House Bill 1142. HB 1142 has passed the House of Representatives, the Finance Committee of the Senate and is now on the Senate Calendar waiting action by the full Senate. In addition, please call your Senator and ask him or her to vote against HB 1142. Ask them to support an amendment that would exclude the casinos and the gambling industry from this bill. If the bill cannot be amended then ask them to defeat HB 1142. The number to call your senator is 601-359-3770.
Email your State Senator in opposition to House Bill 1142
Labels: Call to action
posted by Matt Friedeman at
4:53 PM
1 Comments:
"Tax dollars should not be used to entice more individuals to visit their facilities."
Well, thats not what this bill does. An example of using tax dollars to entice individuals to visit casinos would be to give the individiuals themselves a 30% rebate on any state taxes owed on gambling winnings.
As you said at the beginning of the post, the bill "is designed to create an incentive for persons, corporations or other entities to locate certain tourism projects with the state of Mississippi."
Like it or not, casinos are a huge asset to the Mississippi tourism industry.
I'll remember this post the next time I see you complaining about John McCain opposing Bush tax cuts and supporting legislation that hinders economic growth..
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home