Will Casinos Make An Appearance In Texas?

The debate for casinos coming to Texas has only gotten stronger over the last couple of years. Casino gambling only hurts families and has no upside. Some legislators, mainly those being paid by casino lobbies, will claim that casino gambling will bring more jobs to Texas and while that may be true they also bring sex trafficking, gambling addictions, and a general larger crime rate which all can ruin families.

Texas has had a long history dealing with gambling. In 1903 Texas put a full ban on all forms of gambling. In 1933 during the great depression Texas legalized horse racing bets. Fast forward to 1980, Texas legalized gambling on bingo games for charities and in 1989 they opened more doors for charities to host other gambling events. Now the push is for sports betting and casino gambling.

Texas Family Projects position on gambling is simple, we do not want casinos in Texas. The crime that comes along with them is not worth the “economic growth” that they would bring. The “economic growth” would not be economic growth for families but economic growth for casino owners and most likely the state and federal government. 

Texas Scorecard just released an article with responses from every state representative and candidate that are in runoffs with their positions on casinos. Almost all of the candidates who answered the Texas Scorecard had a similar position, casinos are bad for Texans and they will not support the legalization of them here. Trey Wharton in HD 12 had a different response saying he would be in favor of casinos and used the excuse that it might lower property taxes. We can assume that most of the candidates or representatives that didn’t respond are for casinos expansion in Texas. There was an odd response from Stephanie Klick when she used the opportunity to attack her opponent David Lowe when Lowe carries the same position on the issue as she does.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick made a bold statement saying that as long as he was in control of the Senate, any casino legislation would be dead upon arrival. The Texas Senate has been a stronghold for the family unit and has proven to be committed to passing pro-family legislation. We will continue to look to the Senate to kill all casino legislation moving forward and hopefully keep the House from pushing too hard for it.