The Louisiana Senate recently approved House Bill 702 on a 23-14 vote. The measure authorizes an October voter referendum on a casino in Slidell. The bill now goes Governor John Bel Edwards, who’s indicated he will sign it.
The vote was a significant development for Los Angeles-based Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, which hired 19 lobbyists to persuade Louisiana lawmakers to give St. Tammany Parish voters the chance to determine the casino issue this fall. Peninsula Pacific wants to move the license from its closed DiamondJacks Casino in Bossier Parish to the proposed $250 million Slidell casino. The referendum would reverse an anti-casino vote from 1996.
At a recent Finance Committee hearing, Spectrum Gaming Senior Vice President for Analysis Matt Roob, citing a 2019 Spectrum study, said 22 percent of the gamblers in Mississippi come from Louisiana, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission. If the Slidell casino captured 33 percent of those players’ money, Louisiana could reap $27 million in annual tax revenue.
The legislation faced opposition from other casino operators. Boyd Gaming operates the Treasure Chest in Kenner and the IP Casino in Biloxi, both less than an hour’s drive from Slidell. Penn National operates the Boomtown Casino in Harvey and two casinos on the Mississippi Gulf Coast; all are located within an hour’s drive of Slidell. Also, Full House Resorts operates the Silver Slipper Casino in Waveland, located less than 30 minutes from Slidell.
Full House President and Chief Executive Officer Dan Lee said his company would build a $500 million casino in Lake Charles if the license becomes available for open bid.
Religious groups also fiercely opposed the casino. For example, John Raymond, the pastor at New Horizon Church and headmaster at Lakeside Christian Academy, both in Slidell, cited studies that indicated placing a casino in a community creates more problem gamblers within a 10-mile radius. “The casino culture is a parasitic presence in a community over time,” Raymond said.
Will Hall, director of the Office of Public Policy at the Louisiana Baptist Convention, said statistics show that since gambling was legalized in Louisiana in 1991, the number of problem gamblers in Louisiana had more than tripled to more than 6 percent of the adult population, according to a 2016 state study. “We know casinos don’t make good neighbors,” Hall said.
Anti-casino direct mail already is being sent by a group called Watchdog PAC, headed by Republican operative Scott Wilfong. He declined to identify who funded the campaign.
Ultimately, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board would determine if the license would be transferred. Chairman Mike Noel said, “If for some reason the legislation doesn’t make it through the last step or if it does but the voters don’t pass it, Peninsula would have to make a quick decision whether to reopen in Bossier Parish or turn the license in for public bid.”
On a related note, soon after the vote, Noel informed Edwards he was resigning effective June 10. Observers said the move pre-empts a Senate confirmation hearing in which Noel could have been questioned about his State Police tenure during the fatal arrest of a Black man, Ronald Greene. The death remains under investigation.
Edwards’ spokesperson Christina Stephens stated, “The governor is appreciative of his service at the Gaming Control Board and will work to find a suitable replacement for Mr. Noel.”
Noel was the State Police chief of staff at the time of Greene’s death in May 2019. Noel retired from that agency in June 2020 when Edwards named him to lead the state gambling regulatory board.
State Rep. Ted James, leader of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus, did not support Noel as head of the state gambling agency. “I had concern with giving somebody who was deeply involved in what I perceive was a cover-up any type of promotion,” he said.
