Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Over the years attempts to legalize casino gambling has repeatedly been
blocked in the Texas Legislature, so casinos across the border have welcomed
Texas gamblers. Gambling interests are making a renewed push for casinos and
they're betting on the 2007 Texas legislature to make it happen. Take a
short drive up to Durant, Oklahoma and you'll find that an overwhelming
majority of the vehicles in the Choctaw Casino parking lot have Texas
plates. Millions of Texas dollars are spent each year just across the
border at Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico casinos. The Texas Gaming
Association argues that gambling is already in Texas - in the form of the
state lottery and race tracks, so what's wrong with adding one more venue to
help provide money for education and other services. Terri Capshaw, a Texas
resident and local convenience store clerk who sells lotto tickets, says
"People will gamble, our tax dollars are going across the river. If they
want to keep it in Texas then Texas does need to step it up. But it does
need to be investigated on what the crime rate does." Texas Democrat Senator
Rodney Ellis is proposing licensing up to 12 casinos across the state,
mainly in major cities and on tourist islands along the gulf coast. Voters
would then have to approve this proposal - by approving a state
constitutional amendment. Then local voters would have to take a vote before
a casino could be built in their cities. Governor Rick Perry says the odds
of legalizing gambling in the state of Texas aren't bad. There are plenty of
people who say they will continue to work toward making it legal.