Texas Gambling Opposition

Texas gaming supporters gambling on new inroads with 2011 Legislature


AUSTIN -- Gaming supporters are gearing up to make another run at expanding gambling in Texas, this time hoping for a more favorable reception as they seek to convince lawmakers that gambling-generated tax revenue could help shrink a projected budget shortfall of at least $11 billion.

But they will apparently get a cold shoulder from the governor's office -- whether the occupant is Republican incumbent Rick Perry or his Democratic challenger, Bill White.

"The governor does not support expanding the footprint of gambling," Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle said Monday.

White, who hopes to unseat Perry in the November election, has also expressed opposition to gambling. "No, I don't think that the state of Texas should be promoting gambling and a something-for-nothing mentality," the former Houston mayor told an interviewer recently.