Advocates renew push for casino gambling legalization, but face steep uphill climb

SAN ANTONIO – A big push is underway to expand gambling in Texas, with momentum continuing to build after a encouraging showing in the 2023 legislature.

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation, a resort and casino company, is renewing their push to legalize casino gaming in the Lone Star state and to bring destination style resort casinos to the states big cities like Dallas and San Antonio.

Las Vegas Sands is owned by the Adelson Family, who is worth north of $30 billion. In December, the Adelson’s purchased a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks from Mark Cuban, who is also on record as being in favor of destination resort casino’s in Texas.

In the last few weeks, the Sans group re-activated their lobbying group (Texas Destination Resort Alliance) and began pouring money into those efforts.

“Momentum is building, and I think the momentum is building too positively for casino gambling,” UTSA political science chair Jon Taylor said. “The Sands company who owns obviously the Sands Casino in Las Vegas, among other things, would not have purchased 61% of the Dallas Mavericks if they did not think that casino gaming was not coming to Texas at some point in the near future.”

Right now in Texas, gambling is restricted to a few Native American casinos, the lottery, and some horse racing.

Advocates say expanded gaming will bring considerable revenue to the state as well as make it more of a tourist destination.

“Let’s be honest, there’s another driving angle here that we need to consider,” Taylor went on to say. “And that’s the fact that the state of Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico – they all have some form of gambling of some sort. And so, to be honest, we’re missing out on revenue.”

There are huge hurdles in the way of passage.

“One of the major roadblocks for casinos in Texas is sort of the old school evangelical vote,” Scott Braddock, editor of the Quorum Report, said. “And that’s the base of politicians like lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, who remains one of the biggest opponents of all this.”

Those against legalization tend to be staunch conservatives and evangelicals who reject the expansion of gaming because of morality and their beliefs

“There will be religious organizations that you will see a lot of lobbying by a variety of social conservative groups, various religious groups, arguing that this is going to be a detriment to the state,” Taylor said.

Gambling expansion also took another hit last month in the primaries when many of the moderate Republicans who may have been in favor of casinos were defeated or are currently in runoffs against conservatives who are further to the right.

“This is always a big challenge,” Braddock said. “I think the fact that the House, for all intents and purposes, seems to be moving further to the right after these Republican primaries. It complicates this even further.”

Among the state’s highest-ranking conservatives, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is the most vocal in his opposition to expanded gaming or resort style casinos. In 2023, Patrick killed all gaming bills that had any life in the House – even the sports betting bill that was passed by the lower chamber.

Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, who is in a tight runoff race at the moment, has shown openness to expanded gaming, while Governor Greg Abbott has left the door cracked open, but not very much.

According to Braddock, there is another issue as well – and it might be the biggest of them all.

“The specific challenge for casinos is that because it requires a constitutional amendment, two thirds of the House and two thirds of the Senate would have to vote to approve it, and then send it to the people,” he said.

Despite many polls showing that Texans are in favor of expanded gaming and would probably approve it if it was on the ballot, getting two-thirds majority in a Republican controlled legislature is a tall task for legislation that has not had support historically.

“It’s not a good bet,” Braddock said. “The odds are long.”