In Mississippi, state Senator John Horhn’s SB 2820 died in the Senate Gaming Committee. The bill would have authorized cruise vessels on the Pearl River or adjoining bodies of water within a city with a population of at least 145,000.
Currently, under the Mississippi Gaming Control Act (CGA) riverboat gambling is allowed in counties along the Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast with regional voter approval. More than 30 gambling venues have opened on the state’s shorelines since the GCA took effect in 1990.
The Pearl River covers two-thirds of Mississippi and runs through the state capital, Jackson, then splits into the East and West Pearl Rivers before reaching the Gulf of Mexico in 30 miles.
Jackson could have been the only city to benefit from the bill if it had passed, based on the population requirement. But that wasn’t a certainty, due to Jackson’s declining population. According to the latest census information, in 2021 Jackson’s population dropped below 150,000, to 149,727, for the first time since before 1970. That number fell even more to 145,995 in 2022. Jackson then was named the fastest-shrinking U.S. city with at least 50,000 residents, taking the title from San Francisco. Unofficial 2024 estimates put the city’s population at 138,531.
Horhn’s bill would have authorized “gaming to be conducted on vessels as defined in Section 27-109-1 whenever such vessel is on the Pearl River or an adjoining body of water within the corporate limits of a municipality with a population of 145,000 or more according to the most recent federal decennial census.”
Observers said some questions arose about what constitutes “the corporate limits of a municipality with a population of 145,000 or more.”
