House Ballots Favorably About Texas Gambling, Casino Expenses

On Thursday, online gambling and internet casino legislation both received acceptance votes during their second readings on the House floor.

Both will now receive a third reading and a final vote on either Thursday night or Thursday before advancing to the Senate.

House Joint Resolution 102, which would legalize online gambling via constitutional amendment, together with its enabling legislation, House Bill 1942, received majority approval. HJR 102 passed with a 97-42 vote, three votes shy of the hundred needed for its 3rd reading to progress as a constitutional amendment. HB 1942, requiring only a simple majority, passed with an 84-52 vote in support.

House Joint Resolution 155, which would legalize resort internet casinos in key Texas locations via constitutional amendment, obtained a 92-51 majority agreement. That result came seven votes short of the two-thirds majority it’ll need in its 3rd reading to progress. House Bill 2843, the enabling legislation to HJR 155, had its 2nd reading postponed a day.

3rd readings should take place before a Thursday crossover deadline for all bills originating in the House.

Casino legal guidelines generated a stable stream regarding opposition

Of the two betting positions in the Wednesday appointments, Rep. Steve Geren’s HJR 155, legalizing Texas internet casinos, created lengthier issue. Eight entire amendments had been proposed, six of which had been adopted, including one modified amendment. The adopted changes addressed the below:

Amendment one: allocates money to find Texas educator salaries;

Amendment four: brings Brownsville/Harlingen to potential internet casino regions;

Amendment five: brings Central Arizona as a possible casino location;

Amendment six: allows for a new racetrack permit in Jefferson County;

Amendment seven: limits mainland China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran from doing business in Texas due to their Communist ties;

Amendment eight: amends amendment seven by restricting restrictions to mainland China and not Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Representatives Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, and Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, orchestrated the seventh amendment, attempting to define the Vegas Sands Organization out of Texas casinos because of their business alliances in Macau, officially the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

Schaefer decried the human and civil rights violations taking place in the shown communist locations and, through some theatrical prodding by Shaheen, told the floor that Vegas Sands had direct ties to the People’s Republic of China through their casino holdings in Macau.

Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, the bill’s sponsor, ultimately amended Schaefer’s amendment to eliminate Macau, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from the list of disallowed communist countries.

Shaheen renewed his well-established combat against gambling expansion in Texas through appeals to domestic spousal abuse and child sex trafficking, which he said “would go vertical” in the sheer number of cases if the bill is passed.

“A woman married to a problem gambler,” Shaheen mentioned, “is ten times more likely to go to the ER.”

Rep. Eddie Morales, D-Eagle Try, whose amendment designating room for a casino for the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas within 310 miles of their tribal lands was defeated, opposed the bill because it “would weaken the economic advantages that the Kickapoo have benefited from.”

Morales brought home the significance of considering the Kickapoo, who had inhabited Texas “since before it was Texas,” and expressed the necessity to sustain their community.

“If we can’t care for our own,” Morales mentioned, “why are we putting these out-of-state interests over our most vulnerable customers?”

Few proponents spoke on the invoice. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, provided the most equanimous support, reminding the House that “this is an opportunity to allow the citizens to vote for something they said they want, and we’ll all respect the result.”

HJR 155 obtained the 92-51 majority vote with 2 abstentions – Rep. Penny Morales Shaw, D-Houston, and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.

The bill will need to gather eight votes on its third reading to advance to the Senate. Phelan, a well-known proponent of betting expansion, will likely be one if he places his final vote on HJR 155.

Repetition. Jeff Make their way focuses on illegitimate gambling marketplace

In a very much briefer round of issue, Rep. Shaun Leach, R-Plano, unveiled Texas internet sports betting legislation by concentrating on the illegitimate gambling marketplace while downplaying the position that sports betting could generate income for the state.

Three changes were suggested, two of which were adopted. They addressed:

Amendment one: adds a new sports betting license for NASCAR at the Arizona Motor Speedway. Devotes income to property tax decrease and for educator salaries;

Amendment three: boosts the gambling tax by 10% to 15%.

Shaheen continued his encounter on lawful gambling with additional emotional appeals, focusing on “the risks for the children who will end up gambling online.”

“$1.9 billion was spent on [gambling] marketing last year,” he said. “I can assure you they will target your children.”

Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, provided an impassioned speech for the bill in terms of personal freedom.

“Are we going to tell Texans what to do with the dollar in their pocket when they can already gamble on stocks?” Canales asked.

This created a satisfying response from the floor.

Without having to develop brick-and-mortar spaces for online gambling, much of the oppositional arguments about “introducing” vices to the state vanished. Leach closed down the issue with the tip that the state is “criminalizing numerous Texans” for gambling illegally, and HJR 102 should end and squash out the illegal marketplace that currently puts numerous Texans in danger.

With a 97-44 vote, HJR 102 is located three ballots shy of advancement to the upper chamber, and one of those would come from Phelan, a proponent who, by design, did not vote Wednesday.

After Wednesday’s session, Leach said he was “hopeful” the bill could reach the 100-vote threshold needed to further.

Despite very long odds within the Senate, Residence vote directs a strong personal message

Should either or both bills advance further on the last reading, their outlook in the Senate appears grim. House members intimated as much in their testimony Thursday. Nonetheless, the argument that Texas residents have shown interest in gambling expansion has taken hold.

While House passage may not sway Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and the Senate, with Patrick claiming that he “doesn’t have the votes” to pass gambling expansion, it sends a message. Namely, that the lower chamber is ready to empower the citizenry to choose an issue that has received clear focus in two successive legislative processes.