Want more gambling in Lafayette? Parish Council looks at options, could ask you to vote

Twenty-six years ago, voters in Lafayette Parish opted not to allow video poker within the parish. But in 2020, the parish’s voters overwhelmingly approved online sports betting. Changing opinions on gaming have Parish Council members mulling another vote on local gambling prohibitions. 

At Tuesday’s Lafayette Parish Council meeting, all five councilmen said they were open toputting the issue back before voters with an eye toward raising revenue for the parish government’s balance sheets. 

Parish Councilman Kevin Naquin, in his third and final term, said he brought the possibility up to address the parish’s long-term finances without changing local tax rates.

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“'We don't want to pay the property taxes. We don't want to pay sales tax.' I'm good with that. Here's another option. Here's another solution parishes across the state of Louisiana do all day long,” Naquin said. 

“I think if we were to look at it, I would like to seriously take a look at what type of revenue it could bring and what we can put it into.”

Video poker was defeated in 1996, largely with opposition from within the city of Lafayette. But Naquin pointed out that attitudes about gambling and many other previously taboo subjects, such as marijuana legalization, have changed meaningfully in recent decades. 

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He pointed to the 2020 sports betting proposition that won by a nearly 2-1 margin in Lafayette Parish as an example that voters have changed their minds about gaming prohibitions locally. 

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“Right now, if you took a poll, you probably had more people that would be in favor of having this discussion and seeing what it looks like,” he said. “I'm not saying they’re all gonna jump in and say, ‘Let's do it tomorrow,’ but it's important that we get the facts together.”

Any change would require a vote of the public, not just the council, but it would take majority support among Parish Council members to get proposed changes on a ballot before residents. 

The council’s four other members, alongside Mayor-President Josh Guillory, said they'd consider the idea, depending on how the public reacts in the coming weeks and the details of any proposed changes, which could include river boats or other types of gambling council members agree on.

“It's a worthwhile discussion, especially with last year the parish voting to allow online betting, and so I think that's certainly at least an indication of where the public is,” Councilman Josh Carlson said. 

Some expressed reservations about enabling gambling problems and concerns about what allowing more forms of gambling in the parish would look like. 

“We still have an obligation within this parish to take care of our own. And if there are some social issues or regulatory then we need to be prepared to to address (them),” Councilman John Guilbeau said. 

“I know what gambling also brings to the parish, and it can be a nightmare for us to manage if we're not careful. Anyway, it's early in the game. It's early in the discussions. I appreciate this and opportunities to have more discussions.”

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