Gambling supporters hope Texas budget shortfall improves their odds
From resort-style casinos to small charity poker tournaments, state lawmakers will be asked to raise revenue by approving a variety of legalized gambling bills next year.
Proponents have been trying for well over a decade to expand gambling options in Texas. This time around, two competing forces are coloring the debate.
On the one hand, Republicans have expanded their majority in the House to 101 members, and many are opposed to any expansion of gambling.
"We found no candidate running who said, 'If you elect me, we'll fund education through casinos,'" said Rob Kohler, a consultant for the Christian Life Commission, the public policy arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
But on the other hand, gambling proponents believe that prospects of a budget shortfall of more than $20 billion will improve the odds that lawmakers will take a more serious look at the potential revenue from casino-style gaming.
"This ought to give some wind to our backs given the amount of money they'll have to find," said Jack Pratt, chairman of the Texas Gaming Association.
Pratt said his team is still working out the details of the bill his group plans to endorse, which is expected to be filed next month by lawmakers including Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston. The bill would ultimately put to voters whether to amend the state constitution to allow for resort-style casinos in a handful of locations, likely including Tarrant County, he said.
It's similar to the strategy Pratt and his allies have tried without success in the past. For the 2007 session, gambling lobbyists sweetened the pot by devoting part of the proposed gambling revenue to fund college scholarships to more than 200,000 Texas high school graduates annually. The measure still flopped.
Pratt said he expects that the new proposal, which will again help support higher education, could resonate more with lawmakers as universities are expected to face some of the most brutal cuts next year.
The Christian Life Commission plans to make blocking any gaming proposals a priority for the session, Kohler said.
"The folks in this state were hoodwinked with the lottery when they were told it was going to solve the education problems in this state and that hasn't worked," Kohler said. "This is just another funding gimmick."
Other gaming interests are pushing their own proposals, including ones that would legalize poker gaming and video lottery terminals at racetracks.
Dan Michalski, a Las Vegas-based poker writer and blogger, said bills to legalize poker seem to move further along in the legislative process each session.
"I would say in some ways I'm more optimistic than I have been in previous years," Michalski said. "When you look at Texas' looming budget deficit, I think that keeps [the proposals] on the table longer than before."
Charity bingo interests have formed the Coalition for the Survival of Charitable Bingo out of fear that racetracks will be allowed to install video lottery terminals and steal their customers. The group plans to make sure lawmakers include charity bingo halls among the facilities that can install the machines if any other gaming expansion is approved.
Steve Brensen, the group's coordinator, said lawmakers may be more open to a gaming expansion once they see the budget cuts that might be required without one.
"We have to treat it as a real and present danger," Brensen said. "I would think when it comes down to putting 35 kids in an elementary school classroom instead of 22, many legislators will think long and hard about that."
Strong opposition
While gambling revenue may be tempting to lawmakers given budget woes, the political calculus suggests it will remain a tough sell. Expanding gambling in Texas would require a constitutional amendment that would need a two-thirds vote in the Legislature before being put before the state's voters.
Texas' conservative grassroots are largely opposed to gambling. The state's Republican Party platform even calls for repealing the state lottery.
And gambling proponents didn't exactly endear themselves to the GOP majority during this year's elections. In what largely amounted to a losing bet, 80 percent of the nearly $1 million that gambling interests and Indian tribes poured into Texas House candidates went to Democrats, most of whom lost, according to a report by Texans for Public Justice, a group that monitors campaign finances.
Gov. Rick Perry has also expressed opposition to any expansion of gambling, but Pratt said that he didn't believe Perry would block an effort to let voters decide the issue.
"We have a strong feeling now that he's not going to stand in the way of it," Pratt said.
When asked for comment, Perry's office reaffirmed his opposition to an expansion of gambling.
Partisan split
The odds of any gambling bills passing has been a topic of discussion at local political events this month. At a legislative preview put on by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, seven area legislators were asked whether they would support a constitutional amendment allowing voters to decide whether to expand gambling in Texas. The impromptu poll split along party lines.
State Rep. Marc Veasey and state Sen. Wendy Davis, both Fort Worth Democrats, said "yes."
"I hope we keep our options open," Veasey said.
The four Republicans on stage -- state Reps. Rob Orr of Burleson, Mark Shelton of Fort Worth, Todd Smith of Euless and Vicki Truitt of Keller -- all said "no."
"The votes aren't there in the House," Truitt said.