A bill to create a state lottery has passed the Mississippi House. It is expected to be signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant. This will end the state being one of only six without a lottery. Bryant says he wants to use the funds to do work on highways and bridges. It’ll be about over a year before you can buy a lottery ticket in MS. The money will be used for roads and bridge repairs up to $80-million, and after that it will go into an education enhancement fund.
Governor Phil Bryant wants the special legislative session to be expanded. The House is back in session today at 10 a.m. Legislators are working on the allocation of the state's BP funds. The 700 million dollars must be divided before the special session is concluded.
Governor Phil Bryant is requesting lawmakers to make a decision on how to divide $700 million that Mississippi will get in economic damage payments from BP.
The oil company is making the payments for damages sustained after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Legislative leaders have discussed giving about 75 percent of the money to the Mississippi's three coastal counties, thus granting 25 percent to the remaining 79 counties, as outlined in the current bill.