Casino Gaming & South Padre Island

This is an article from last summer, the Senate Joint Resolution #8 will come up again in the next legislative session in Jan. 2009. I will be posting more on the Casino Gaming bill, later.

Texas Casino Gambling Vote Stopped by Religious Conservatives
In the Texas state legislature, the religious right members have again stopped the voters from going to the polls to decide whether to allow casino gambling within the state. Fearing that such an initiative would be overwhelmingly be approved by voters, those staunch religious right representatives blocked bills from coming out of committee to allow voters to register their opinions. Brian Branderson, a gambling analyst said, "Once again, we have a situation of supposedly god-fearing religious right lawmakers pushing their morals on everyone. This is a classic interruption of the separation of church and state, which is guaranteed by the United States constitution." A poll in Texas, taken earlier this year, showed that a vote by the people would have been a resounding “YES” to casino gambling. Texas' surrounding state neighbors, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Louisiana have a combined 133 casinos. According to Business Week, in 2005, Las Vegas brought in $7.5 billion; Atlantic City came in a close second with $5 billion, Louisiana with $2.2 billion and Mississippi with $2.8 billion. A study done in Texas estimates that if Texas allows casino gambling it would create 400,000 jobs and generate between $1 and $4.5 Billion in state and local revenue. Texans are disappointed with the legislators who are more and more inserting religious views held by them and powerful lobbying groups that want to regulate morality. In 2008, Texans can change this. Texans will need to come out in force during that election cycle and support candidates that not only support legalizing casinos, but also lend their support to those willing to allow mature adults to make their own choices and decide what moral path each wants to pursue. June 30, 2007Posted By Bob HartmanStaff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com