At-a-Glance
Every legislative session since 1995 has had a major push for the legalization of casinos in Texas. Each has been turned back because of significant efforts by individual coalition partners and TAG to provide objective information about potential harmful results of casino gambling in the state.
Casino gambling currently is not allowed in Texas. One casino exists on Indian land at Eagle Pass, and one gambling boat sails nine miles off the coast of Galveston. Both operations are out of reach of state jurisdiction.
A concerted push to expand casino-style gambling in Texas was defeated in the 2007 legislature. Gambling interests have been funneling large amounts of money to Gov. Rick Perry and key lawmakers in the form of political donations in preparation for an even greater push into Texas in the 2009 session.
The push for casino-style gambling in Texas is expected to take on the disguises of efforts to privatize the Texas Lottery and to allow video slot machines (VLTs) at race tracks.
Big Gambling argues that casinos will boost the Texas economy by keeping Texans at home to gamble, but the reality whether Texans are losing their money in Louisiana, or losing their money in Texas, the "winner" is always the same - casino owners and stockholders. Short-term economic gains as the result of casino building are off-set over time by "prize pots" draining local economies and local businesses of money that otherwise might be used for healthy growth. The experience of states that have long allowed casino gambling shows a significant down-side to casinos:
- Casinos boost area bankruptcy rates. (Source: Creighton University study 2005) The State of Connecticut published a report in 1997 on the effects of gambling on its citizens. It found that 80 percent of problem gamblers cashed in stocks or bonds to support their habit and that 72 percent had stolen some money - although most hadn't been arrested. A third quit or lost their jobs.
- Casinos increase gambling addiction rates in the counties in which they are located. (Source: National Gambling Impact Study, 1999)
- Dollars spent on gambling do not 'multiply' in the economy in the form of generating salaries, service contracts, operating costs, etc., because of the way casinos operate. Casinos are allowed to take a huge portion of money wagered and return it to their "prize pool," which is not counted as revenue. Gamblers who win usually keep gambling, eventually leaving with their winnings or, more likely, losing all their money or going into debt. Called "churn" by the industry, this economic model contributes very little to local economies yet leaves tremendous social problems in their wake. (Source: National Gabling Impact Study, 1999)
- Casinos boost crime. A 2006 landmark study by economics researchers Earl L. Grinols, University of Illinois, and David B. Mustard, Terry University, GA, called "Casinos, Crime and Community Costs," looked at all 3,165 counties in the United States from 1977 to 1996. Its conclusion: Five years after a casino opens, serious crime in the area goes up dramatically when compared to neighboring areas, even after adjusting for economic trends and other factors.
- Casinos do not deliver the revenues promised. In 1999, the National Gambling Impact Study Commission called for a moratorium on gambling expansion, noting "the experience of states that have legalized slots and casinos reveals that the much-hyped revenue is a mirage that never materializes."
Check out the TAB Casino Handout