Pro-gambling lobbyists seeking their first major victory in the Texas House scrambled to get at least a handful of new supporters while opponents hoped to kill the casino measure by continuing to keep the vote count under 100.

Kuempel’s chief of staff confirmed the delay meant the bill was dead. John Kuempel, R-Sequin, sponsor of the enabling bill for Geren’s constitutional amendment, postponed consideration until long past the session’s May 29 adjournment. as House members worked toward a midnight deadline for bringing up bills.Īs the hour approached, the Fort Worth lawmaker then announced another postponement until noon Friday, the last day the measure could come up for consideration in the House.īut as noon came and went, Rep. Geren had planned to bring up his casino measure for an early afternoon final vote on Thursday, May 11 but announced that he wanted a delay until 10 p.m. The sports betting measure received 101 yes votes in the 150-member House, barely enough to clear the two-third majority vote needed to pass constitutional amendments, with 42 voting in opposition. the Supreme Court cleared the way with a landmark decision in 2018. More than 30 states have legalized sports wagering since the U.S. Jeff Leach, whose hometown of Allen was devastated by a mass shooting less than week ago, pushed the initiative that would allow legalized sports betting in Texas if approved by voters in the November election. Two bills to implement the measures if approved by voters were also presented to lawmakers. 7 election, were at the center of a multi-million-dollar push by pro-gaming forces to legalize gambling in Texas after decades of unsuccessful attempts. The two proposed constitutional amendments, both of which would present the issues to voters in a Nov. The late-in-session struggle facing casino gambling came in contrast to the other major gaming initiative, a constitutional amendment legalizing sports betting that won narrow passage in the House on Thursday. Todd Hunter, a Corpus Christi Republican. The chair of the State Affairs Committee that endorsed the Geren measure earlier confirmed that casino gambling was dead.

The measure appeared in trouble after an essential bill needed to implement the constitutional amendment was removed from consideration by lawmakers. Asked afterward if the measure is dead, Geren told the Fort Worth Report, “Yes sir, it is.”