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

Mississippi Senate Passes 3 Pro-Life Bills, House Leader Vows to Kill Them

Contact Your State Representative Today!

Dear Matt,

Senate Public Health and Welfare Chairman Alan Nunnelee and the Mississippi State Senate are to be applauded for introducing and passing three excellent pieces of pro-life legislation this week. However, the bills could die as they are headed for the less-than-friendly House Public Health and Human Services Chairman Steve Holland's committee who said emphatically this week that he will kill them. Mr. Holland is vowing not to allow them out of his committee for a full and fair vote by the House of Representatives.

These pieces of legislation passed by the Senate would undoubtedly save lives as empirical data shows. Senate Bill 2795, one of three abortion-related bills the Senate approved prohibits abortions except for victims of rape, incest or for mothers whose lives may be in danger. Senate Bill 2801 would require doctors to offer women considering an abortion the opportunity to listen to their fetal or embryonic heartbeat and view a sonogram. Senate Bill 2391, which states that minors without parental consent, would need a court's permission for an abortion.

In order for these bills to receive a fair and full vote by the House, your help is needed today. As you might expect, the pro-death organization Planned Parenthood has now joined Representative Steve Holland in an all out attack on these three good pieces of legislation. But House Speaker Billy McCoy has the authority to assign these bills to a friendly committee who would allow for a fair up and down vote from the full House. Please urge your state representative to ask House Speaker McCoy to assign these good bills to a friendly committee.

Take Action

Your voice is urgently needed today on behalf of the most defenseless in our sate; the unborn! Send an email to your state representative in support of the three pieces of pro-life legislation. Please call your Mississippi Representative at home over the weekend or the switchboard next week at (601) 359-3770 with a polite but urgent message asking them to make sure the three pro-life bills wind up in a friendly committee in the Mississippi House of Representatives. Please forward this important alert to all your friends and family in Mississippi. Make copies of this AFA PASS ALONG SHEET and share it with members of your church and Sunday school class this Sunday. It is very important that our state Representatives hear from all pro-life Mississippians on these three important bills.

Click Here to Email your Representative Now!

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Call to action

Call your Mississippi representatives (not senators) today at home or office (601-359-3770 and leave a message) and politely ask them to make sure the three pro-life bills wind up in a friendly committee. Speaker Billy McCoy has the power to do that; one pro-life bill right now is languishing in less-than-friendly Steve Holland's committee.

Call! These pieces of legislation undoubtedly save lives as empirical data shows (as talked about on yesterday's show!),