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Pro-gambling legislation expected to be a loser again in Austin

December 26, 2006

AUSTIN — Despite a lot of gambling buzz around the Capitol, it's probably safe to bet that the latest effort to give Texans more opportunities to lose their money closer to home will fail.

But the gamblers have friends in high places, enough friends to make some gambling opponents nervous and the upcoming legislative maneuvering interesting to watch.

The Republican majority in the Texas House has been a huge obstacle to gambling proposals in recent years because the GOP officially opposes gambling. Add to that some Democratic lawmakers who don't like it either, and a two-thirds vote for the necessary constitutional amendment has been out of reach.

Speaker Tom Craddick's position on the latest push to either legalize video slot machines at racetracks or establish wide-open casino gambling in Texas (the gamblers aren't united on their goal yet) isn't clear.

But the speaker's chief of staff, Nancy Fisher, is a former lobbyist for dog track owners, and her sister, Nora Del Bosque, is a lobbyist for Multimedia Games Inc., a major provider of gaming devices.

Bill Messer, one of Craddick's closest friends in the lobby, also has represented dog track owners.

Do those associations mean Craddick (if he survives a challenge to his speakership) will actively promote gambling legislation? Not necessarily.

Are they enough to trouble gambling opponents? You bet, particularly since the speaker also is suggesting that he is at least open to more gambling.

"I have always believed that the issue is an important one that should get thorough review and debate, so that all Texans can get a clear picture of exactly what is at stake," he said in a statement issued through his office.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst "personally opposes the expansion of gambling in Texas," said spokesman Rich Parsons. Less clear, however, is whether Dewhurst would attempt to block a gambling vote in the Senate.

Gov. Rick Perry, who angered fellow Republicans by endorsing video slot machines at racetracks as part of an unsuccessful school funding proposal in 2004, now opposes expanded gambling.

"I think that with a record budget surplus looming, that some say will be $15 billion or more, the governor is going to be hard-pressed to entertain ideas about a massive new revenue source," spokesman Robert Black said.

It is interesting to note, though, that retiring state Sen. Ken Armbrister, D-Victoria, who will be the governor's new chief lobbyist with the Legislature, was a strong proponent of expanded gambling as a lawmaker.

And Mike Toomey, Perry's former chief of staff, will be a major force in the pro-gambling push as a lobbyist for Sam Houston Race Park, the horse track in Houston.

But Perry, not Armbrister, will set the governor's legislative priorities, Black noted. And he dismissed the notion that Toomey will have any influence with Perry on gambling.

"Just because a particular individual who has known the governor for a long time proposes an idea doesn't mean the governor is going to go along with it," Black said.

In previous unsuccessful efforts, advocates promoted expanded gambling as a major source for new education funding. But that horse has been ridden to death, mainly because the Texas Lottery never has lived up to the public's expectations that it was going to forever put the public schools on Easy Street.

This time, gamblers are proposing the state spend a huge chunk (as much as $2 billion a year) of new gambling revenue on expanded health care for the poor and maybe to help young people with college tuition payments.

Democratic Rep. Garnet Coleman, whose inner-city Houston residents are some of the poorest people in Texas, is a strong advocate for more health care, but he isn't buying the pitch.

More gambling, he said, would make "a few people very, very rich, and they're not going to be my constituents."

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