The research conducted on New Orleans riverboat casinos revealed that gambling at five of them generated a windfall of $1.6 billion in business sales and over 20,000 jobs in metro Shreveport were added. On the whole, the 14 riverboats pump more than $455 million into the state coffer.
Some, however, believe that boats in Baton Rouge only relocate the money from one pocket to another. What they fail to see is that river casinos clout the dangerous financial leakage. People that choose to gamble in New Orleans would have otherwise gambled in Mississippi or Las Vegas, scattering the money in foreign place, whereas, this way, the money is preserved within the state boundaries. The out –of- state market has grown enormously in Shreveport/Bossier and Lake Charles with multiplying number of gambling boats in those areas. Now that they don’t have to cruise, it’s enticed more overseas visitors to flock to New Orleans.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco ratified that the conducted research was not anchored to any sort of push for higher gambling taxes and that she would intercede for the higher video poker taxes to raise teacher’s salaries by $1,000.
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| Source: Gamblingsmart news Staff
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Wednesday, 20 April 2005 |
Monday, October 6 2008 
