Harrah’s Casino expansion should add 900 new jobs to the 2,400 jobs already in existence.
A Louisiana House of Representatives committee approved House Bill 553 on Wednesday, which would extend Harrah’s Casino’s license for another 30 years. Harrah’s promised to invest $350 million to build a hotel, food court, and other amenities on the site of the New Orleans casino.
The House Criminal Justice Commitee approved the proposal, so HB553 moves to the House floor for a full vote. No date for the vote has been set.
House Speaker Taylor Barras (R-New Iberia) sponsored House Bill 553. The investment assures a 340-room hotel, along with 900 direct and indirect permanent jobs. Construction on the hotel will create 600 temporary jobs. Speaker Barras noted to the committee that Harrah’s had no plans to increase its gaming space, so the bill does not involve the expansion of gambling.
$32.5 Million in Tax Revenues
Harrah’s also agreed to pay an addition $3.6 million per year to the City of New Orleans, along with an additional $3.4 million to Louisiana’s state government. Those payments would begin in 2019.
Lawmakers estimated that the non-gambling expansion would generate an additional $17 million in tax revenues for state each year, along with $8.5 million for the city. Those estimates, which were culled from Harrah’s own projections, caused Tyler Bridges of the Baton Rouge newspaper, The Advocate, to discuss the promises made by Harrah’s Casino advocates in 1992 when building such a casino was discussed. Bridges also discussed the fearmongering of the casino’s opponents at the time.
Earlier Mistaken Projections
When Harrah’s Casino was first discussed during the administration of Gov. Edwin Edwards, Harrah’s promised the casino would generate $100 million a year in tax revenues. They promised the casino would create 25,000 jobs.
In truth, New Orleans’ first land-based casino generates about $60 million a year in revenues for the state. The casino has about 2,400 workers — only 10% of the projected amount. One can assume the new projected tax revenues — besides the $7 million mandated outright — could also be inaccurate.
Fearmongering in 1990s Campaign
To be fair, Tyler Bridges noted that the conservative lawmakers who vowed to oppose Harrah’s Casino back in the 1990s also made projections that never came to pass. They claimed the Harrah’s Casino would cannibalize the revenues of existing restaurants and hotels in the area. In fact, the additional visitors each year may have helped nearby business — or at the very least did not harm them.
More dramatically, opponents of Harrah’s development predicted that a major land-based casino would bring a “Mafia element” to New Orleans. Given Las Vegas casino companies’ decades-long association with the American Mafia from the 1930s until the 1980s, such fearmongering was not a bad tactic — even if it did not work.
Harrah’s Entertainment History
By the 1990s, Las Vegas casino companies like Harrah’s Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment) were corporate entities. The 80s and 90s introduced corporate ethics into the Las Vegas business culture, while the Nineties and beyond have even been described as the Disneyfication of Las Vegas.
Though Harrah’s Casino did not follow through on all the promises its developers made, Taylor Barras’s committee recognized that the casino has been a net-plus for the city and the state. It’s created thousands of jobs and should create hundreds of more, if HB 553 is passed.
Marcelle and Leger Approve
State Rep. Denise Marcelle (D-Baton Rouge) told Speaker Barras and Speaker Pro Tem Walt Leger III (D-New Orleans), “I do think this is a great investment.”
Walt Leger gave his agreement, saying, “Their continued investment is important to the future of our city and state. This may be one of the most important economic development bills you have a chance to vote on.”
With bipartisan support, HB 553 stands a good chance of being passed in the Louisiana House. If so, it moves on to the Louisiana Senate, where the bill might face a closer vote.
