Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, on “Restrict casinos.”

Gov. Haley Barbour’s proposal to restrict casinos to counties where they already exist is a good idea that merits serious legislative consideration.

Barbour told the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi that he intended to put the matter on the agenda of an upcoming special legislative session.

Whether there is sufficient urgency to justify its consideration before the next regular session is questionable, but the concept is sound.

For years this newspaper editorially opposed legalized gambling of any kind, and we have always thought it unwise for communities to pin their entire economic development hopes on casinos. But 16 years after the first one opened, the casino industry is an economic fixture in the state, and though there have been social costs, their impact in providing jobs and spinoff development on the Gulf Coast and in the depressed Delta region is undeniable. The state, as well as those local communities, are now dependent on the tax revenue they generate for basic services.

Casinos, simply put, are here to stay. But they should stay where they are.

The Gulf Coast is a heavily tourism-based economy, as are Natchez and Vicksburg, two other casino communities on the Mississippi River. Tunica — once the most impoverished community in the United States — has little other than casinos to provide jobs.

There is logic to the law that restricts casino development to Gulf Coast and Mississippi River counties, and only when the people of a county approve. (The state has no authority over casinos on the Choctaw Indian reservation near Philadelphia, except for the requirement of an initial compact with the state.)

There have been periodic efforts over the years to expand the geographic limits to casinos. In Northeast Mississippi, past rumblings have targeted Aberdeen and then Tishomingo County for possible casino development.

Casinos change communities that have them, and much of the change isn’t good. They ought to be limited to areas where they are a more natural fit.

Casino proliferation in Mississippi won’t do anybody any good, least of all the existing gambling developments. It makes sense to hold down the spread of casinos to maximize the potential of the current gambling destination points.

The main impact of a law restricting casino counties to the current ones would be to prohibit those counties on the coast or the river that haven’t voted for it from doing so in the future. Jackson County, the easternmost coast county, is probably the primary one. The Choctaws are interested in building a casino there, but Barbour hasn’t been supportive, mainly because it would compete with Coast casinos nearby but not pay local and state taxes.

The state and even opponents of casinos have made their peace for the most part with their presence in the state. That presence is sufficient where it is, and the Legislature should make that the state’s official policy.

— NE Mississippi Daily Journal,