Gaming Industry Says Tax Provisions Aimed at Revitalizing Gulf Coast Should Not Discriminate

In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, you stated that getting people back to work is the foundation of the economic revival of the hurricane-devastated region. You also stated that tax provisions to facilitate rebuilding and re-employment should apply across the board and should not discriminate against particular types of industries. I applaud your approach and ask you to stand firmly against those who would put personal bias ahead of the economic revitalization of the Gulf Coast. As you well know, the sooner private businesses can get back on their feet, the sooner Federal spending for assistance to the region can come to an end.

In previous disaster relief legislation, Congress did not pick winners and losers. It is clear that there is a distinct difference traditional enterprise zone legislation, which is meant to create incentives for businesses to invest in mildly depressed areas, and disaster relief legislation intended to rebuild a vibrant tourism-based economy devastated by a natural disaster. Businesses on the Gulf Coast have invested billions of dollars in infrastructure that Hurricane Katrina reduced to rubble in a matter of hours. Congress should not punish the 16,000 commercial casino employees by treating these legal, licensed and highly regulated businesses as second-class citizens.

If the intent of this disaster recovery tax legislation is to assist in rebuilding the Gulf Coast economy and in getting people back to work as quickly as possible, it is counterintuitive to exclude the very industry that has revitalized the region and is its largest employer. Along the Mississippi Gulf Coast alone, the commercial casino industry contributes more than $120 million in taxes to state and local governments each year. The state loses $500,000 dollars in revenue each day the Gulf Coast casinos are not operational. In addition, hundreds of other businesses, such as suppliers, vendors, restaurants, hotels and retail stores, and thousands of other jobs in the region are dependent on our industry. From the governors to state legislators to mayors and city council members, every individual political leader facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding these ravaged communities will tell you the Gulf Coast's recovery is directly linked with the full recovery of the gaming industry. To treat our industry differently would not only break precedent, but also neglect the very engine that would drive the economy of the Gulf Coast into, the future.