After folding on the prospect of legalizing casino gambling during the 2023 session of the Texas Legislature, state lawmakers will get a fresh hand to renew the debate this year.
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House Joint Resolution No. 137 was introduced this week by State Rep. Charlie Geren. It proposes Texas voters be presented a constitutional amendment in November to “strictly regulate and authorize casino gaming and sports wagering” in the state.
The Fort Worth Republican introduced a similar bill during the 2023 session, but it never made it out of the House. That effort did, however, garner financial backing from casino and resort company Las Vegas Sands Corp.
Billionaire Miriam Adelson and her family, who are majority shareholders in Las Vegas Sands, purchased a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban at the end of 2023. Less than a week after that deal closed, Cuban sold more than 12 acres on Stemmons Freeway in the Dallas Design District to a company set up by the Adelson family. That property includes the Mavericks' practice facility.
A separate company formed by the Adelson family also bought more than 200 acres on State Highway 114 in Irving.
Adelson's son-in-law Patrick Dumont told reporters in June that North Texas is lacking as a tourist destination and could use a boost from casinos, NBC-DFW reported.
“If you look at what we do, we're ground-up developers in scale, and we develop tourism assets for both business and leisure tourism,” Dumont said, according to NBC-DFW. “We feel like this is an opportunity that’s very good, not only for us, but for the tourism industry as a whole. Now, as part of that, we need casino gaming because of the scale of our investments.”
The bill introduced by Geren this week would allow no more than 10 licensed casinos in Texas and cap state taxes on casinos and sports wagering at 15%.
Some believe lawmakers could be more receptive this time around, though Texas legislators have historically opposed efforts to allow gambling in the state, as have religious groups and law enforcement advocates. Another 2023 sports betting bill separate from Geren’s measure made it to the Texas Senate, but Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick prevented it from getting a vote.
Gov. Greg Abbott has expressed support for allowing voters to decide the issue in a constitutional amendment election.
“I don’t have a problem with online sports betting,” Abbott said on the Houston Chronicle’s Texas Today podcast. “The reality is that I’d be shocked if there were not some Texans that do it already.”
Two of Texas’ neighboring states, Louisiana and Oklahoma, offer legal gambling at casinos near the state borders.
Ninety minutes north of Dallas on the Texas-Oklahoma border, Hard Rock Hotel is building a resort and casino, one of more than $8B in projects that look to transform Lake Texoma into a tourist destination.
