AUSTIN -- Proposed luxury-style casinos, including one at Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie, have been stripped from a gambling bill as supporters try to round up enough votes to push the measure through the House.
Rep. Mike Hamilton, R-Mauriceville, said Friday night that he could not muster enough support to keep the casinos in a proposed constitutional amendment that would expand gambling.The measure is now limited to authorizing slot machines at racetracks and Indian reservations.The House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee, which Hamilton chairs, tentatively endorsed the measure Friday night, but Hamilton said the bill will have to return to the committee for tweaking.The committee will likely vote today, but prospects for getting a gambling bill through this session of the Legislature are dwindling fast.A two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate would be required to place the proposed amendment on the November ballot. If voters approved, lawmakers would have to pass enabling legislation in their next session, in 2013.Hamilton crafted an earlier bill that would have authorized up to seven casinos, including one in Tarrant County.Additionally, the bill would have allowed on-premises casinos at the state's three Class One racetracks, including Lone Star Park.Dave Montgomery is the Star-Telegram's Austin bureau chief. 512-476-4294
Moncrief urges rejection of 'sanctuary cities' bill
PoliTex blog: From North Texas to D.C., our insiders take you beyond the usual rhetoric 
Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
