Will the Legislature allow Texas voters to decide on casino gambling and sports betting?
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick holds the important cards.
Patrick is president of the Texas Senate and the most powerful legislative force in the state. He sets the agenda. If he wants an expansion of gambling in Texas, odds are it will happen.
But Patrick has been a combination of direct and coy about his feelings on the issue. During an interview with The Dallas Morning News, he said there is not enough Republican support in the Senate to put the questions of casino gambling and sports betting before voters.
“We don’t have the votes for casinos,” he said. “There are not enough votes for sports betting and I don’t think that’s going to change.”
Those comments might be enough to declare any expansion of gambling dead for this year’s legislative session, but proponents of sports betting aren’t getting up from the table.
They want to see Patrick’s cards.
A bill authored by Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, would ask Texas voters to decide whether residents could place mobile phone bets on sporting events. Similar legislation has been filed in the Senate by Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham.
The sports betting wave is slowly sweeping the country. According to Forbes Magazine, 36 states and Washington D.C. allow sports betting, while 32 states have mobile sports betting.
The Lone Star push is led by the Texas Sports Betting Alliance, a collective that includes prominent sportsbook operators and all of Texas’ major professional athletic teams and their powerhouse owners, including the Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Former Gov. Rick Perry is the group’s spokesman.
The Alliance projects that Texas could earn $250 million annually from tax revenue, but some caution lawmakers that the revenue projection may not bear out as the bill would give Texas among the lowest tax rates on gambling revenue in the country, according to an analysis by The News.
Whatever the revenue that could come from betting, if there isn’t enough backing in the Senate for the bill and Patrick is against the proposal, a referendum won’t get to voters, and the movement will have to be revived during the next legislative session.
Supporters are hoping to get mobile sports betting approved in the Texas House, and then make a renewed push in the Senate.
Then they want to convince Patrick and others to support sports betting legislation, particularly since some big name business leaders and sports executives are behind it.
Still, don’t expect Patrick to show his hand until the pot is ready.
“You bring me 15 [Republican] votes, and you’ll know where I stand,” he told The News, avoiding giving any insight on his personal feelings about expanded gambling.
If Patrick allowed it, sports betting legislation could pass with a majority of Democrats voting for it, along with some Republican support. But Patrick doesn’t want to split the Republican caucus on the issue, or approve a bill that would be essentially pushed by Democrats.
He criticized his predecessor, former Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, for allowing Democratic Party-led legislation to get through the Senate.
“If we don’t get consensus in our caucus, it means what we’re really doing is letting Democrats control the agenda,” he said. “I’m not going to let that happen.”
Legislation that would allow casino gambling appears unlikely to be approved this legislative session. Patrick says there is scant Republican support for such a plan that would let voters decide whether to allow some destination-style casinos in parts of Texas, including Dallas.
Las Vegas Sands has been instrumental in pushing the legislation authored by Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth.
As it stands, casino gambling and sports betting are long shots, but anyone who’s watched this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament knows that upsets can occur.
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