Texas Poker Bill Dies Without a Vote in the HouseRegulated Poker Will Have to Wait in Texas |
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The tribes that run the Indian casinos in Oklahoma, Louisiana, and New Mexico likely breathed a sigh of relief when Rep. Jose Menendez’s poker bill officially died last week. All the while, poker players in Texas probably sighed with frustration.
There will be no Texas hold’em in Texas this year, at least not at the racetracks.
Menendez’s bill, HB 222, would’ve legalized the playing of Texas hold’em in licensed establishments around the state. Faced with staunch opposition that included a potential gubernatorial veto, Menendez decided to suspend his bill last week before the state House ever had a chance to vote on it.
“It is my understanding that the governor plans to veto this bill if it gets to his desk,” Menendez told his fellow legislators. “I think it would be a disservice to this body if I were to put (forward) a bill that I already know is dead.”
It does not appear that the bill had enough support to pass a House vote, but even if it did, Gov. Rick Perry’s past statements regarding his opposition to any expansion of gaming indicated that he might veto any such legislation. An earlier bill that proposed a broader expansion of gambling in the state was dismissed earlier in the session because of lack of support in the House.
The Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee approved Menendez’s bill by a 6-3 vote last month, giving it a chance to make it to the House floor. This is the third session Menendez has filed a poker-related bill.
The San Antonio legislator was hoping to create California-style cardrooms in the Lone Star State. Menendez argued that the move for legal cardrooms was a safety issue, referencing the growing number of robberies at home games in the state. He also argued that the legal poker rooms could create state revenue.
However, after legislators became convinced that the state would receive federal stimulus money, House support waned, according to the Dallas Morning-News.
The next opportunity legislators in the state will be able to revisit the issue will be in 2011.
Texas has not been the only state to discuss its poker laws this year.
The Senate Judiciary Committee of South Carolina has passed two poker bills that would explicitly legalize home games in the state, after five men were arrested, tried, and found guilty because of their home game.
In California, a bill was submitted to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office earlier this year on the subject of online gaming. Legislators in the state are considering the issue as a way to raise much-needed revenue for the cash-strapped state.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ed Rendell has spoken out in favor of legalizing video poker games in an effort to raise more money for education. His support, however, does not extend to table games.
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