Casino gambling up for discussion in Texas

They say everything is just bigger in Texas, apparently that includes the Lone Star state’s debt. At around $15M, the state is considering not when but where to make cuts, and it might be the schools that get hit first.

What about the children? Isn’t that the cry whenever gambling legislation is introduced? So what about the children now? What about the sick? What about several public programs that will take cuts unless the state can find a way to reconcile their Texas sized debt?

Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis plans to introduce a gaming bill that would legalize casino gambling. In an email, “The people deserve the right to choose whether they want draconian cuts to children’s education, health care for the elderly, and aid to veterans, or they want to move forward with an option to bring back the jobs and money to Texas we are giving away to other states.”

Obviously, the legalization of casino gambling in Texas would add another revenue stream to the state, early estimates have that stream at around $1 billion. But the thing about casino gambling is that those numbers can fluctuate, and it’s dangerous for the government to rely on that revenue stream to be consistent as Nevada found out.

Texas has to figure it out, but legalized casino gambling looks like a longshot right now. In the meantime Texans will continue to head on down to the dirty in Louisiana or to tribal casinos to get their gamble on. It’s just strange to me that a state could have one of the most popular poker games named after it, yet, its residents can’t play that game at a casino.

Perhaps, this is yet another reason for Texas and other states to consider legalizing and regulating online gambling?