It is unknown how much revenue Mississippi will generate from legalizing sports betting. This was stated by politicians earlier this summer. They suggested that it could bring in as high as $35 million per year for the state’s coffers. Recent estimates have shown that Mississippi would receive anywhere from $3 million to $15 million in tax revenue annually from sports betting at its casinos. It could be lower than $3 million based on August. However, it is not clear how sports betting will impact state coffers after one month. Because August does not provide a reliable indicator of how much revenue is generated, all 28 state-regulated casinos on the Mississippi River or Gulf Coast did no offer sports betting during the entire month. The Legislative Budget Committee recently released the August revenue report that included revenues from sports betting. According to earlier reports by the Mississippi Gaming Commission, patrons bet $9.8million between the start of sports betting at Mississippi casinos in August 1 and Sept 2. The $54,000 tax collection for August was due to the 12 percent state/local tax that casinos collect on their earnings. The first month of Mississippi sports betting saw nearly $10 million in legal wagers. While the $54,000 collected for August will be used to fund the general fund, which provides money for items such as education, public safety and law enforcement, the money will also go to transportation on state highways. An August special session passed legislation that would divert money from sports betting to transportation. The Legislature also passed a lottery, and the first $80million of the revenue was directed to the same transportation fund. House Pro Tem Greg Snowden (R-Meridian) said that while some estimates suggest it could take two years to pass the lottery, he stated that it is possible to do it in one year. Officials from the State Department of Transportation have stated that they require an additional $400 million each year to expand transportation. According to the August revenue report, which was recently prepared and published by the Legislature Budget Committee, although sports betting revenue was not as high for August, gambling revenue was still up for the first two fiscal months of the fiscal. The August and July gambling revenue rose $1.5 million, or 6.8%. However, overall revenue collections for the first 2 months of fiscal year were $4.1 million, or 0.6 percent lower than what was collected in the same period last. Corporate tax collections are down 45.7 percent to $11.3 million, or $11.3 million less than the amount collected in the same period last fiscal year. Multiple tax cuts by the Legislature have led to a drop in corporate tax collections in recent years. Fiscal year 2015 (July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015), corporate tax collections reached $714.1 Million. In the most recent fiscal year, $572.3 million was collected in corporate taxes. Although overall revenue collections have decreased by 2.6 percent, they still exceed the official estimate of $17.8million. Because it shows how much money was appropriated by the Legislature, the estimate is crucial. If revenue falls below the estimate, leaders will have to cut budgets or dip into reserves funds.