Texas Lawmaker Pushing To Legalize Casinos For Disaster Relief

The devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey is still being felt along the coast of Texas which is bringing one lawmaker to push to legalize casinos for relief efforts.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Texas state Rep. Joe Deshotel, D-Beaumont, filed a bill to legalize casinos and provide licenses in Texas counties like Harris, Galveston, Jefferson, Nueces, and Bexar.

Also, according to the bill, three other licenses would be allowed for other counties along the coast of Texas.

The bill would place an 18% tax on the revenue the casino brings in and half of that would be put into a catastrophe reserve trust fund.

Deshotel also put in the bill for a creation of what he is calling the catastrophe flooding assistance trust fund and the rest of the tax money on the revenue of the casinos would go there.

Casino gambling is currently barred by the Texas Constitution so Deshotel has filed a separate resolution requesting a constitutional amendment allowing the bill to take effect if passed.

If the bill is passed through the Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott, Texas voters would be able to then vote on the constitutional amendment to allow casinos in Texas in November 2019.