Representative Casey Eure addresses the House on his mobile sports betting bill during the 2024 session. (Photo Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune - 2024)
- PERS is currently facing a $26 billion unfunded liability. Similar mobile sports betting bills have died in the Senate in previous years.
The Mississippi House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday to legalize mobile sports betting with the goal being to shore up the state’s Public Employees Retirement System.
HB 1581, passed by a vote of 85 to 31 after 20 minutes of debate, was authored by House Gaming Committee Chairman State Rep. Casey Eure (R). He said the legislation is similar to ones that have failed to pass for the last two years, with only a couple of changes. Both prior attempts died in the Senate.
The biggest change, said Eure, is that gaming revenue collected by Mississippi would be earmarked for PERS. Within a few years, the chairman “safely” estimated between $40 million and $80 million in taxes and fees could be generated for PERS, with upwards of $100 million annually seen as possible as the industry grows.
PERS is currently facing a $26 billion unfunded liability.
The Senate passed legislation earlier this session that would transfer $500 million from the Capital Expense Fund to the PERS account as of July 1. Subsequent transfers of $50 million would then be moved from the Capital Expense Fund to PERS each year until July 2036 under the Senate bill.
To gain support for the House bill, Rep. Eure told members that neighboring states are seeing healthier coffers as a result of online gambling. Louisiana collected approximately $100 million in revenue since September 2025, he said.
Eure noted that more than 81,000 Mississippians traveled to Louisiana and Tennessee to participate in online gambling, with approximately 62.5 percent going to the Volunteer State and 37 percent to the Bayou State.
“These are Mississippi residents traveling to other states. The outcome of this is that Mississippi collects zero tax revenue, there’s zero oversight, and zero consumer protection for the people placing these bets. And problem gambling goes undetected and unmanaged,” Eure said.
Under the House bill, an online gambling platform must be tethered to a brick-and-mortar casino, with a maximum of two platforms available. Users must be in the Magnolia State, verified using geofencing. Accounts would require age and identity verification, and betting activity would be monitored and logged.
The bill also includes a provision that sends $6 million to a safeguard fund for casinos on an basis until 2030. Eure said this is to ensure casinos are “made whole” if they lose money on mobile sports betting.
“As I told you last year, I do not feel any casino will lose money on this,” he said.
For the most part, members who spoke on the bill praised using the revenue to close the PERS gap.
State Rep. Hank Zuber (R) offered an amendment that would give a cash infusion of $600 million coming from the Capital Expenditure Fund. Second, the amendment would make the sport betting revenue and the $600 million infusion contingent on the PERS Board reporting out an annual rate of return of no less than 7.75 percent.
“For far too long, this legislative body has kicked this can down the proverbial road whenever it comes to bringing long-term stability to our public retirement system,” Zuber said, before the amendment passed on a voice vote. “This body, at this time, with your support, is going to solve the PERS issues and problems that we’re facing.”
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.
