What started as an effort to promote tourism in Natchez instead resulted in one of the biggest economic boons Mississippi has seen in decades.

Passage of the 1990 Gaming Control Act and the emergence since then of 30 casinos, 12 of which are on the Gulf Coast, has resulted in many thousands of jobs statewide, said Sen. Bob Dearing of Natchez.

&uot;The jobs it’s created in Natchez are important, but the jobs across the state, more than 40,000 directly and indirectly, by the casinos has meant a lot to the economy,&uot; Dearing said.

What’s more, the revenues from gambling establishments have boosted state and local budgets by millions of dollars.

&uot;And on the Gulf Coast, it has brought the area back to life,&uot; Dearing said. &uot;All the major conventions were going out of state. There was no money being put into those beautiful hotels on the coast. And now not only are the state conventions returning there but many out-of-state conventions are meeting on the coast.&uot;

Dearing took the idea of legalizing riverboat gambling to the Senate in 1990 after his friend and constituent the late Dr. David Steckler read in 1989 about riverboat gambling opening in Iowa.

&uot;David said to me, ‘you’re my senator, and I want you to introduce this bill,’&uot; Dearing said. &uot;And so I did.&uot;

Initially, the bill was crafted to resemble the one that only recently had passed in Iowa. The bill as first envisioned by Dearing would have allowed riverboat gambling out of five possible Mississippi River ports &045; Natchez, along with Rosedale, Greenville, Vicksburg and Port Gibson.

&uot;To use a trite expression,&uot; Dearing said. &uot;That bill was dead in the water before it could hit the floor. It was dead in committee, and I wasn’t on that committee.&uot;

However, with lobbying efforts, which including Steckler’s learning the names of all the committee members and calling friends in all their communities to help get the bill going again, success seemed at hand.

&uot;All of a sudden in the Senate you would hear, ‘well, let’s pass the bill for ole Bob M. down in Natchez,’&uot; Dearing said.

The bill passed out of committee and onto the Senate floor and passed the Senate with a comfortable margin. In the House, the bill took a different turn.

&uot;It went to a House committee chaired by a man from Greenville, who began to hear rumblings from Arkansas about arresting everyone on the boat if it came out into Arkansas territory.&uot;

To get to the Mississippi River from Greenville, indeed a boat must cross first through an area considered a part of Arkansas. That is when Rep. Sonny Meredith of Greenville suggested a change to the bill &045; don’t require the boats to leave port.

A whole new vision of the proposed bill began to appear. Not boats, but floating casinos would be allowed by the law. And a year later, not just the Mississippi River but also the Gulf Coast would be included in the area legalized for riverboat gaming.

&uot;The best thing we did, though, was to add to the bill that communities could hold local referendums to decide whether they wanted the gaming,&uot; Dearing said.

Often bitter debate divided Natchez as the referendum to adopt riverboat gaming began in mid 1990. In November of that year the required majority of voters approved it and opened the way for city officials to negotiate with companies interested in placing a casino along the Natchez waterfront.

Lady Luck Casino opened in February 1993 and was purchased by Isle of Capri Casinos in March 2000.

Dearing has been pleased with the change of ownership of the Natchez casino and likes the marketing of Natchez through golf and hotel packages by the Isle of Capri.

&uot;I felt when Lady Luck was in town, we could use the competition of another boat,&uot; Dearing said. &uot;Now, I honestly don’t know what the market can bear.&uot;

He is hopeful the Isle of Capri will consider expanding in Natchez. &uot;I’d like to see them do something similar to what they’ve done in Vicksburg. It’s about five times the size of the one in Natchez.&uot;

Dearing looks back on the past 13 years with a mix of feelings about the gaming law that was not at all what he and his visionary friend had pictured.

What of the future? He expects gambling is here to stay. He knows there are important debates within the state about the pros and cons.

&uot;There are those who will always be opposed to gambling and justifiably so. I have no bones to pick with them,&uot; he said. &uot;And I believe that you do it for entertainment or you don’t do it at all. That’s how I feel about it personally.&uot;

Dearing believes the jobs and economic boost have been good for the state. He also believes one day the Legislature will allow community colleges and universities to teach courses that will train Mississippi workers for more of the best jobs at the casinos.

Ironically, the riverboat casino at Natchez is no longer in Dearing’s senatorial district. &uot;It’s in Robert Johnson’s district,&uot; he said.