April 9, 2021

Dear Friend,

St. Tammany Parish residents spoke loud and clear in 1996: they said NO to gambling in their parish. They knew back then what we know now: the gambling industry makes broken promises, delivers broken dreams, broken lives and broken homes. Each year, Louisiana gambling venues siphon $3 billion of personal wealth in the form of gambling losses, often from those who can least afford it. A bulk of that money migrates out of state forever.

In fact, it is estimated that for every dollar generated in tax revenue, the State of Louisiana spends $3 in social costs such as welfare, unemployment, crime, etc. This makes gambling an expensive proposition for Louisiana; still, the industry continues to push for deregulation, expansion, and virgin territory.

A proposal in St. Tammany Parish would place a new land-based casino in the City of Slidell. It would be operated by the same company (Peninsula Pacific Entertainment, P2E) whose previous casino in Bossier City went bankrupt. Gambling's promise to “play everyday, get lucky every night!” hasn't worked for P2E, the citizens of Bossier City, and it won't work in Slidell either.

The gambling industry wants to locate a casino on the Northshore of Lake Ponchartrain. If St. Tammany Parish residents say NO to the industry’s broken promises, P2E will be packing their bags and leaving the state! St. Tammany is a great place to live and work. Don't let P2E take that away!

It is now up to the Louisiana Legislature to pass a bill authorizing a new casino in St. Tammany. One proposal specifically calls for P2E to be the operator, SB 213, by Sen. Sharon Hewitt). Another bill, HB 497 by Rep. Mary Dubuisson, does not specify the operator. Both Legislators represent St. Tammany Parish.

St. Tammany residents must now reach out to the decision makers at the State Capitol, including Sen. Hewitt and Rep. Dubuisson, who are hearing promises from 20+ lobbyists hired by the gambling industry.

Please take a moment to let your voice be heard:

1. Contact members of the St. Tammany legislative delegation as well as Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer through this 60-Second Brigade and ask them to say NO to the casino.
2. Email and/or call your State Representative and let them know that you oppose the Louisiana gambling license exchange.
3. If you live in St. Tammany Parish, contact Parish Council members. 

A few other important items for you as you head into the weekend:

• Yesterday, LFF staff were at the Capitol to deliver media and message training to dozens of legislators and state leaders on a number of challenging and important topics they’ll tackle this session.
• Next week, LFF will host the 2021 Legislative Pastors Briefing at the Capitol Park Welcome Center, preparing pastors to pray with legislators and advocate for God-honoring public policy. If your pastor or key church leaders would benefit, please make sure they get this link to RSVP. Your generous contributions make trainings like this, and messaging training, possible.
• LFF will be releasing a preliminary Bills to Watch list next week, highlighting the first round of good (and bad) bills you’ll want to pay attention to. We expect legislators will tackle measures related to election integrity, protecting women’s sports, protecting children from medical experimentation, and, of course, protecting life.

As a reminder, all of this is possible – including legislative victories – because of the generous support and unwavering prayers of so many Louisianians. LFF is honored to fight these battles on your behalf and honored to stand with you in victory. We know this session will be highly productive with you by our side.

If you haven’t yet made your investment in this session’s work, would you click here to make a one-time or recurring, tax-deductible gift to support the victories ahead?

Thank you, as always, for your loyal and unwavering support for the work of Louisiana Family Forum.

In His Service,

Gene Mills
President
Louisiana Family Forum