LSG hearing on expanded gambling

The Legislative Study Group held a hearing on Wednesday to start the discussion about the various proposals for expanded gambling in Texas that will be brought to the Lege next year.

Racetrack and casino interests that want to expand Texas gambling dangled promises of new tax revenue before lawmakers Wednesday, but faced tough, skeptical questions from Democrats about the economic benefits and social costs.

“Could I make a suggestion to you? Don’t pretend like there’s not a downside. Somebody needs to talk about how we’re going to mitigate the downside,” Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, told Jack E. Pratt Sr., chairman of the Texas Gaming Association, which is pushing a proposal that would include destination resorts with casinos.

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Their questions ranged from details of the $1 billion to $1.5 billion projected annually in new state tax revenue to the likely bidding process for casino licenses, as well as the people likely to play and whether they can afford it.

Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, said the hearing was meant to make public the private conversations that are occurring about the possible legislation for the 2011 session. He said he would like to get updated revenue figures besides those generated by the interests involved.

Racetrack and casino interests testified, as did gambling opponents from the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission. At this point, I’m just glad to see decent information getting out there. If people are going to be called upon to vote on this next year, they should have as much accurate data at their disposal as possible. Texas Politics and First Reading have more.

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