Texas Ban on Casinos, Sports Wagering Will Remain in Place After Legalization Efforts Fall Flat

The efforts to legalize casino and sports wagering at the 87th Parliament regular session turned out to be adverse as the present ban on them will remain until 2023. It now depends upon Governor Gregg Abbott and Congress to relax the gambling law in the special session.

The current Texas Constitution has imposed a ban on the lottery and gift business except for the bingo conducted at the church social or the charity raffles performed by the professional sports team in the State.

According to Dan Patrick, Republican Deputy Governor, the Casino bill and sports betting isn’t a priority. It isn’t a hot issue to be discussed in the session. He added that too many “competitive interests” stopped the bill from going further.

While Patrick forwarded a Senate proposal to create a sports betting program — Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 39 And Senate Bill (SB) 736 Senator Chuy Hinojosa (D-McAllen) — Submitted to the Senate Board of Commerce, where it remained static, with no resolutions made.

Rep.Dan Huberty (Republican Houston), one of the primary authors of HB 2070 and HJR 97, appeared in House State Affairs and proposed his viewpoint that legal sports betting would give a new tax revenue source to the State and its resources. Also, the State should give its people freedom to participate in sports betting and be given more importance over its potential social ramification concerns.

Huberty also stated that a legal framework is required to safeguard citizens’ interests.

 The session went through a number of statements against the legislation, but the commission kept HB 2070 and HUR 97 on hold and didn’t consider them after that.

To get the public’s attention on the November ballot and their agreement on casinos, representatives of the Las Vegas Sands.  The Las Vegas gambling company spent millions of dollars on radio and television commercials.. They even brought in 73 lobbyists to encourage the legalization of casinos during regular sessions.

The absence of a political goal from leadership and its unpopularity with socially conservative interest organisations like Texas Values and the Texas Baptist General Convention are the reasons why the gaming measure hasn’t gained traction.