Gambling Federation Casinos Online gambling issue may arise in Texas Bookmark this portal  |   Make this portal your homepage   Search For:   Gambling Federation Casinos Contact Us Add Your Site Tidings Links Casinos Games Free Online Games Craps SportsBooks Bingo   Gambling Federation Casinos - Online gambling issue may arise in Texas Texas State Rep. Craig Eiland predicts that online casino gambling might return to the table if the Legislature finds itself in a second special session seeking to resolve issues related to school funding. “We’ll just have to wait and see,” he told those gathered Thursday morning for a legislative breakfast sponsored by the Galveston Chamber of Commerce. Eiland, a Galveston Democrat, had been scheduled to share the platform with state Sen. Kyle Janek, a Houston Republican, but Janek got tied up in Austin where the Senate was working to push through its own school finance plan. The fight at the moment, Eiland said, is among Republicans as leaders in the two houses wrestle with ways to fund public education while providing broad property tax relief. Gov. Rick Perry, meanwhile, is roughly halfway in between with a proposed sales tax increase of seven-tenths of a cent. Eiland indicated the governor and his re-election hopes would be at the center of any discussion about funding for education. He suggested that the absence of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison from the Republican gubernatorial primary might make it easier for Perry to get behind online gambling as a possible revenue source. He had already come out in favor of online gambling at horse and dog tracks, Eiland said, and as long as she was in the picture, he really couldnt move off of that because that was the one issue where she was to the right of him. Now that shes not running, he might be free to look at more options. For Eiland and other Galveston County lawmakers, any online gambling proposal would have to go beyond putting computers at horse racing venues and dog tracks. He noted that the Galveston City Council had come out in favor of legislation that would provide for a local referendum on online gambling, but he said getting such a measure through the Legislature won’t be easy. “While we’re down here saying we want a local referendum, other cities are saying they don't want it,” Eiland said. He mentioned interests in downtown Dallas, where backers of online casino gambling fear that a local referendum might be defeated through a campaign financed by the land based casinos or racetracks. << Back   Copyright 2004 © Gambling Federation Casinos. All rights reserved.