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Slot Machines for Texas - Jackpot or Tilt?
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Gambling is one way that many states use to increase revenue without raising taxes. I’m sure you know that Texas
has a lottery, which produces about one billion dollars each year for the state budget, all of which is spent on
education, but which is still only a small part of the overall education budget. The state also allows gambling in the form of betting on horse and dog races. In other states, horse tracks have been allowed to install slot machines or complete casinos. According to Texas track owners, slot machines and casinos allow tracks in other states to offer bigger prizes for their races, so all the best races are going to those states. Without good races, the owners argue, tracks in Texas are hurting. Their answer? Bring slot machines to the tracks in Texas. In the Legislature, any move to expand gambling has been met with substantial opposition. But with the Texas budget looking like it will come up seriously short in the coming legislative session, the revenue from taxes on slot machines starts looking very tempting. If it’s a choice between increased taxes, cutting funding to local school districts, or allowing slot machines, the longstanding majority against new gambling may shift. Legislators who support allowing more legal gambling in Texas don’t agree on all the details. For example, if we allow slot machines, should they only be at the tracks, or should they be allowed in other entertainment centers, like the Kemah Boardwalk. Should we just allow slot machines, or complete casinos with other games? And how should we decide who gets these very lucrative gambling licenses? I have received very few comments from constituents on this topic, and it’s not a subject that often comes up at community meetings. I’d like to know what you think. So I’ve asked supporters and opponents of slot machines to write “for and against” articles that appear below. And I’ve added a poll to my web site, at www.scotthochberg. com, to get your view on the subject. | |
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Racetrack Casinos – A Win for Texas By: WinForTexas, a Coalition of Texas Racetracks Allowing Texas’ racetracks and Indian reservations to add slot machine gaming would create huge economic and social benefits for Texans. It would stop the massive loss of money across state lines and keep it in Texas where it belongs. It would keep the legislature from having to raise property or sales taxes to make up a budget shortfall. It would ensure continued funding of critical state services and allow us to invest in the future. This one simple change would bring an estimated $6.8 billion in new economic activity per year to the state and over 50,000 new, permanent jobs. These aren’t just jobs at racetracks and ranches, but also in the service industry, in construction, in textiles and chemicals. These are jobs across more than forty sectors of our economy and in every region of the state. The recession has had a huge negative impact on the Texas state budget. We now have an enormous budget gap that legislators will need new revenue to fill. We can easily generate more than $1 billion per year in new tax revenue for the state, and can do this without expanding the footprint of gaming in Texas beyond the places where it already is licensed for. An increase in tax revenue that large would be the best insurance possible against other tax increases, like property or gas taxes, and even the creation of a state income tax. Opposing this change to “keep Texans from gaming” makes little sense. Texans are already gambling: to the tune of $3 billion a year in places like Las Vegas, Louisiana, and of course on the Internet. In fact Texans represent almost half of Louisiana’s gaming revenue and nearly a quarter of New Mexico’s. These are dollars that fund Louisiana and New Mexico schools, prisons and economic development programs. In other words, we are funding these states to compete with us for new jobs. Slot machines at racetracks and Indian reservation casinos would limit the number of facilities in the state to just sixteen. This is a much more manageable number than putting a casino in every population center and would allow these sixteen locations to develop into fullscale destination resorts. An added benefit of limiting this expansion is that these facilities are already licensed and subject to stringent oversight by the state. It also means they are ready to generate revenue for the state now. The people of Texas should be allowed to make up their own mind on how they spend their entertainment dollars. The Texas Legislature should put this measure up for a vote of all Texans so we can decide. |
Casinos Bring Addiction, Economic Harm By Suzi Painter, Executive Director, Christian Life Commission, Baptist Convention of Texas Slot machine promoters make big promises of free cash for Texas. Contrary to their claims, the money is not falling from the sky; it is being sucked out of the pockets of Texans. Gambling expansion brings addiction, bankruptcy and crime. These losses have a devastating effect on those who gamble and on those who don’t, but who pay for the suffering. Gambling is a failed plot. The 270 casinos in the entire state of Nevada only generate $1 billion for the state. Yet that’s how much revenue is promised here. 41 race track casinos nationally yield only $2.2 billion in taxes. Promoters also promise 53,000 new jobs. Reality check? If you apply the national average for race track casino (racino) jobs to the 8 active and 5 inactive licensed Texas tracks, employment would only be 8,632 workers – many seasonal. Racino planners say 98% of the dollars wagered in slots come from within a fifty mile radius of the track. Rep. Hochberg’s district would have to wager $115 million each year if racinos are to raise $1B for the state. And those gambled dollars would come out of the local businesses. Donald Trump said, “People will spend a tremendous amount of money in casinos, money that they would normally spend on buying a refrigerator or a new car." Nobody disputes that 1% to 2% of the population will suffer from pathological gambling if slots expand into their community. Seven states have quantified their costs of gambling addiction, bankruptcy and crime averaging $13,000 per person. Rep. Hochberg’s district alone would bear a cost of $18 M a year. There is no state money for treatment. The horse racing tracks made empty promises in 1987, and they are promising big again. In 1987, the tracks promised tax revenue for Texas of $110 million per year. This has never been realized. Live racing in Texas and has contributed nothing in state revenue since 2000 and only $5 million from simulcasting. The horse racing industry is declining because it uses a gambling business model, rather than a competitive sports model, like NASCAR. Racinos would open the floodgates for Indian casinos. Federal Indian gaming laws overpower states’ limitations on slot expansion. The Houston area has an aboriginal land claim of 5M acres. If Texas has Racinos, 23 historic tribes can begin litigating for their shares. California and Oklahoma tried to control the “footprint”, but each now have more than 100 tribal casinos. Casino gambling is an inefficient, unreliable, regressive form of revenue generation for Texas. Any expansion of gambling in the state will subject Texas to the same forces of Indian casino proliferation that have plagued other states. Casino style gambling represents the worst of a predatory business model, and should not be used as a tool by the state to profit from the lost wages of its own citizens. |
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District 137 Constituents: Now that you've read both sides, what do you think about this issue? Go to www.scotthochberg.
com, to register your view on the subject. | |