Mississippi Lottery ???

Some mornings I listen to local talk radio as I drive into Jackson in the mornings (that is until I get mad at the over generalizations and rhetoric). Today's topic, however, was interesting to me as it concerned the yearly talk about Mississippi considering a lottery.

For those looking for historical context Mississippi is squarely in the bible belt politically and, in general, seems to pride itself on abstaining from "sinfulness" with regards to things like alcohol (which wasn't repealed in Mississippi until the late 50's I believe), gaming (which passed in a very contentious manner in the mid-90's but the gambling houses had to be on the water and then there was another big fight after Hurricane Katrina when some of the establishments wanted off of the water and onto dry land) and sex toys (which are banned from sale and it has repeatedly been taken to court).

I love to hear the arguments between the "tax on the poor" people and the "it would save education" people as there points don't really go against each other in philosophy but they definitely differ on passage of the bill. I'll keep my opinions on this too myself unless someone wants to hear them in the comments.

The bill in question in HB 1043 which is reportedly going to die in Committee according to Chairman of the Gaming Committee Bobby Moak. The bill was offered by Reps. Clarke, Mayo, Thomas, and Hines. For the status of HB 1043 see here. There is also a lottery bill in the Senate, SB 2029, offered by Senator Butler. For the status of SB 2029 see here.