THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200408
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: GUY FRIDDELL
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Meeting, by chance, state Sen. Robert Smith of Mississippi, I asked him to evaluate the impact of riverboat gambling introduced recently into the fabled land of William Faulkner and the Bible Belt.
Poll people, Smith said, and perhaps 60 percent still don't favor riverboats and have serious reservations about gaming concerning crime and about being dependent on the gambling industry for major economic development.
On the other hand, asked whether, as long as the boats are there, the state should tax them and make the best possible use of funds to benefit citizens, they respond favorably.
An amiable, soft-spoken 20-year leader in the Mississippi General Assembly, Smith was in town for the Southern Legislative Conference at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott.
The topic is of interest in Virginia, where the General Assembly in February defeated a bill for riverboat gambling offered by Norfolk Del. Jerrauld C. Jones. It would, Jones said, help offset losses from the shipbuilding industry's decline.
A majority of legislators from Southside and Southwest Virginia, with some Northern Virginians, voted against the bill. Jones' estimates of revenue derived from riverboats were inflated, foes said.
In the Mississippi legislature, where, Smith said, estimates usually are fairly close, the take from riverboats for fiscal year 1992-93 was anticipated to be $24 million; it came to $40 million. For 1993-94, experts boosted estimates to $60 million. Revenues reached $95 million.
The extra funds were focused largely on improving Mississippi's educational system, from elementary schools to colleges. Teachers received hefty pay raises as well as state health insurance.
The legislature gave 7 percent raises to the faculty in higher education and expanded the budgets.
People are cautious about social problems attendant to gambling which, during the boom with rising revenues, have yet to be assessed.
There are now 30 showboats and applications for 49 others. They are drawing customers from Memphis, Nashville, Mobile, New Orleans.
The state's gambling commission has good reporting and oversight, Smith said. Its staff was increased this year by 53 employees. More auditors were hired for the state tax commission.
The showboats opened offshore, then were allowed dockside, and, eventually, may become land-based facilities bringing national entertainment on a regular basis. Already there are ancillary facilities ashore, including a half-dozen hotels, and there is a land-based casino on the Choctaw reservation. Donald Trump has grand plans.
After people have been bombarded two years by gaming commercials, their shock of hearing them lessens, Smith said.
``We would much rather have ancestral homes and the beach and the good quality of life, but now we have ancestral homes, the beach, the good quality of life - and casinos. It's amazing.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
State Sen. Robert Smith of Mississippi came to Hampton Roads to
attend the Southern Legislative Conference.
by CNB