Mississippi House Speaker to create group to study lottery

Gunn made his comments in his office Thursday as he answered questions from reporters about the 2017 legislative session, which concluded Wednesday.

“I am open to looking at it,” Gunn said. “I do not think it will be the golden egg everybody thinks it is. We can have an exhaustive conversation about that.”

House Gaming Chair Richard Bennett, R-Long Beach, would lead the committee, which Gunn said he plans to form soon. It would include not only members of the House, but non-legislators.

The momentum for a lottery has been growing in Mississippi. During the 2016 session, Republican Gov. Phil Bryant, like Gunn, expressed opposition to the lottery. But by the 2017 session, the governor’s position had changed.

In his State of the State speech in January, Bryant, referencing anecdotal evidence of people traveling to neighboring states to purchase lottery tickets, said, “We can no longer contain the people’s desire for a lottery. We can only force them to travel.”

The most common arguments for change in position on the lottery is that Mississippi is one of only six states in the nation without a lottery and Mississippians are traveling to neighboring lottery states Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana, to purchase tickets, taking money out of the state.

The governor cited the fact that a lottery generated about $80 million annually in neighboring Arkansas as an indicator of what a lottery might mean for revenue in Mississippi.

While Gunn said he would form the study committee, during the interview with journalists in his office, he made clear he still had doubts about the benefits of a lottery in Mississippi.

He said research already conducted by Bennett indicated not as many people are leaving the state to purchase lottery tickets as many people believe. And he said after expenses, the lottery in Arkansas is generating around $35 million or $40 million annually. He said that amount would not be significant in Mississippi’s overall state budget of about $6 billion.

Gunn said he believes the purchase of lottery tickets might lead to a reduction in state sales tax revenue as people would buy lottery tickets instead of making other purchases.

During the 2017 session, there were multiple efforts to pass a lottery, including by one of Gunn’s key allies, Judiciary A Chair Mark Baker, R-Brandon, who tried to amend a bill in his committee to enact a lottery.

Some members have advocated for lottery revenue going toward transportation improvements. Gunn also has advocated for spending more on roads and bridges.

The speaker also said Thursday he would form a committee to look at various options to generate additional money for transportation needs.

Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, who presides over the Senate, also has spoken of the negative impact of a lottery in the state, but his opposition has not be as clearly stated in the past as that of Gunn.