By Tim Eaton

Texas came a little closer tonight to expanded gambling, but it doesn’t look like casinos will be on the table.

In a Friday night meeting, a House committee voted out a measure to allow slot machines at racetracks and Indian reservations.

But the House’s Licensing and Administrative Procedures committee — chaired by Rep. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton, R-Mauriceville — agreed to a joint resolution that strips out full-casino gambling.

“We just didn’t know if we had the votes for it,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said that some House members indicated that they would consider voting for a bill that would only allow slots at tracks and Indian reservations.

But the House won’t even get to consider the measure unless Hamilton thinks he’s got the votes to pass it. And as of Friday, he said that is close but isn’t quite there.

In March, Hamilton had supported an all-encompassing bill that could have led to seven new Las Vegas-style casinos, slot machines at 13 horse and dog tracks across the state, slots at a few Indian reservations and slots at bingo halls across Texas.

But the measure the committee voted out tonight, House Joint Resolution 111, didn’t include casinos or bingo halls.

Mike Lavigne, a spokesman for Win for Texas, a group that backs slots at tracks, said in a statement: “We are excited to see the process moving along. This is a big step towards creating over 75,000 new jobs and keeping billions of dollars here in Texas when we need it most. Giving Texans the chance to vote on this proposal is the smart thing to do.”

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By Morgan Smith and Ben Philpott

Attention, gamblers. A Texas House committee surprised the casino lobby Friday night when it voted out legislation that would allow video lottery terminals — slot machines — at state racetracks and Indian reservations. The casinos were left behind.

Casino interests wanted any legislation approved by the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee to also allow destination casinos in major cities and on the state’s barrier islands.

Rep. Mike “Tuffy” Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, said he still doesn’t have the 100 votes required in the House to advance the constitutional amendment his committee approved.

Time is short. The legislative session ends on Memorial Day. And next week, a joint House-Senate committee trying to reconcile their two versions of the budget will convene. They’re looking for money, and the gaming interests are hoping this is their chance.

Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, has said he won’t move on any gaming bill until and unless the House passes one. With that still in doubt, nothing’s moving in the Senate right now.

The bill approved by the committee includes a constitutional amendment and the legislation putting it into effect if it passes. Those bills, by Rep. Beverly Woolley, R-Houston, would allow VLTs at dog and horse tracks and on reservations and would raise $548.2 million for the next budget.

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HJR 111 passes out of committee – Will let Texans vote on allowing slot machines at licensed racetracks and Indian reservations

AUSTIN, Texas – This weekend, Texas moved one step closer to stemming the flow of money to our neighboring states when House Joint Resolution (HJR) 111 passed out of committee. HJR 111 will allow Texans to vote on placing slot machines at licensed racetracks and federally-recognized Indian reservations in Texas.

“Right now, Texas dollars are helping to fund schools in Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico. We have an opportunity to keep a huge chunk of that money here,” said State Representative and Speaker Pro-Tempore Beverly Woolley. “We can generate revenue, create more than 77,000 jobs and spur economic growth all without expanding the footprint of gambling in the state and without raising taxes.”

HJR 111 is authored by State Representative Beverly Woolley (R-Houston). Companion legislation filed in the Texas Senate has bi-partisan support. SJR 33 is authored by Senator Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa (D-McAllen) and Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio).

Recent polling shows 82 percent of all Texas voters and 83 percent of conservative voters support a right to vote for allowing slots at licensed racetracks in Texas. Data also shows Republican primary voters overwhelmingly (80 percent) support a Republican officeholder in a Republican primary election who supports allowing Texans to decide.

“We are excited to see legislators seizing this opportunity,” said Mike Lavigne, spokesperson for Win For Texas. “Once approved, the impact would be almost immediate, as it would raise $548.2 million for the next budget cycle and create 77,000 new, permanent Texas jobs. We can begin generating revenue immediately while we build first-class facilities.”

Economic studies indicate this legislation, as proposed, would bring in approximately $1 billion each year in tax revenue and create more than 77,000 jobs for Texans across a wide variety of sectors.

Press Release

“We are excited to see the process moving along. Overwhelmingly, Texans want the opportunity to decide this issue at the ballot box. HJR 111, once approved by voters, will create a mechanism by which full-scale destination resorts will be created in a limited number of sites across Texas without expanding the footprint of gambling. This is a big step towards creating more than 75,000 new jobs and keeping billions of dollars here in Texas when we need it most.”

- Mike Lavigne, Win For Texas spokesman.

Statement

By James Ridgway, Jr.

The Texas Racing Commission concluded in their 2011 “Current State of Horse and Greyhound Racing” that Texas racetracks experienced another year of decline.

In the five years preceding 2010, TRC reported that attendance dropped 12 percent, money wagered declined 23 percent, live racing dropped from 1,228 in 2005 to 578 in 2009, and available purse revenue across the state decreased.

“The Texas racing industry has declined tremendously relative to neighboring states. Comparing the purse revenue paid to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners in Louisiana with the purse dollars paid to Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse owners in Texas underscores the depth to which Texas has fallen.

“In 2009, Louisiana purses for Thoroughbreds and Quarter Horses amounted to $106 million, whereas purses paid to the owners of both major breeds in Texas amounted to $30million. The difference is $76 million,” from TRC’s Industry Advisory Group Report and Recommendations.

New Mexico, Oklahoma and Louisiana have legalized slot machine gambling within their pari-mutuel race facilities. The TRC study purported Texas racetracks are operating at a competitive disadvantage.

At the local level, Pct. 2 Commissioner Craig Doyal said slot machine gaming has not been a subject of overt interest within commissioners’ court in Montgomery County.

“At this point, not having heard pros or cons, I couldn’t say how I would vote (on slot machine gaming). It’s one of those areas, for or against, we haven’t heard much about,” Doyal said. “If Austin opted to allow local options, it would definitely be something I would consider further.”

Doyal said a local option would allow county residents to vote on slot machine gaming as a community.

Andrea Young, president of Sam Houston Race Park, in earlier coverage, said Texans are losing a sizable chuck of taxable-dollars.

“At the tune of 30 percent tax rates on gaming, this is money Texas is losing to neighboring states,” Young said. “Texas is already gaming legally on horse tracks and lottery tickets. Slot machine entertainment on our facilities should be no different.”

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SAN ANGELO, Texas — Patsy Johnson, Sonora

In regard the editorial in the April 27 Standard-Times, “Let voters make gaming decision:”

It’s really none of Sen. Robert Duncan’s and Rep. Drew Darby’s business whether Texans gamble. They should look at the money going out of Texas to our neighboring states.

Wendover, Nev., sends jets to take Texans from San Angelo, Midland, Abilene etc. The last two times we left for Wendover from San Angelo there were 195 people at $169 each, at least. That’s $32,955 going to those three casinos in Wendover.

There also are flights out of San Angelo to Lofland, Nev., and they charge more than Wendover.

We went to Wendover April 13 from San Angelo and there were flights the same week from the cities I mentioned.

Legislators should get this on the ballot instead of trying to tell us what we should or shouldn’t do.

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By Ed Sterling

AUSTIN – Big bills continue to rumble around the state Capitol with less than a month remaining until May 30, the last day of the regular 82nd session of the Texas Legislature.

The full House and the Senate Finance Committee have passed versions of the state budget, but last week there was not enough collective will in the Senate to bring the matter up for floor debate: too much disagreement on the particulars. We’ll have to wait a little longer to see a state budget both houses consider fit for delivery to the governor.

In their current forms, the House version cuts spending by $23 billion while the Senate Finance Committee’s version, which pulls $3 billion from the state’s Rainy Day Fund, cuts $17 billion.

Meanwhile, the Senate approved SB 1811 by Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, to pump $4 billion in non-tax revenue into the 2012-2013 state budget. Duncan’s bill would make use of accounting strategies, such as moving the state’s final payment of the fiscal year to the Permanent School Fund (more than $2 billion) from August into September, the first month of fiscal year 2011-2012.

It would also move up the collection of the state’s franchise tax a month early in 2013 to bring in about $800 million, the Senate Media Office reported.

Another key piece of budget legislation was passed by the Senate: SB 23 by Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound. Nelson’s bill would save about a half billion dollars in health care costs over the next biennium by moving Medicaid prescriptions into managed care and increasing managed care for Medicaid patients in South Texas.

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Some Texas lawmakers want to legalize gambling. What would that mean for small Oklahoma towns that have large casino facilities? Economists say if that happens casinos on the Texas – Oklahoma border could see a big drop in business.

Watch the Story

Check out this recap video of the Win For Texas Day at the Capitol. Senator Chuy Hinojosa speaks to the 800 attendees from the south steps of the Capitol building on how HB 2111 / SB 1118 if passed would bring $2.5 billion to Texas each year and more than 70,000 jobs.

Day at The Capitol from Win For Texas on Vimeo.