Attempt to legislate for a Mississippi state lottery

State Representative Tommy Reynolds is currently attempting to introduce a state lottery in Mississippi regulated by the state gaming commission by attaching an amendment to a Senate bill seeking the intrastate regulation of daily fantasy sports.

Earlier this week the Sun Herald newspaper reported that the Mississippi House voted 83-37 to include the Reynolds amendment on Senate Bill 2541, in order to raise tax revenues generated within the state instead of seeing locals travelling across interstate borders to buy tickets in other state lotteries.

The lottery amendment has apparently not been whole-heartedly welcomed in the state Senate, where Senator Joey Fillingane – chair of the Senate Finance Committee – has predicted it will be rejected.

“I don’t think there’s any appetite in the Senate for a lottery,” the Senator told the Associated Press news agency.

The amendment is the latest in several prior attempts to persuade the Legislature to create a state lottery (see previous reports).