Eiland has a point
Kelly Hawes -- Galveston Daily News:
State Rep. Craig Eiland predicts that 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.Eiland is right. Since Strayhorn has supported gambling to fund education in the past, she can't really take a credible anti-gambling stand if Perry includes gambling revenues in school finance. The political pressure was coming from Kay Bailey Hutchison....
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 gambling as a possible revenue source.
"He had already come out in favor of gambling at the horse and dog tracks," Eiland said, "and as long as she was in the picture, he really couldn’t move off of that because that was the one issue where she was to the right of him. Now that she’s not running, he might be free to look at more options."
Revenues from gambling will start looking mighty attractive to raising taxes. I wouldn't be surprised to see it happen.
I don't comment on policy on this blog, but the one exception has been this: if the state wants revenues from gambling, then why not legalize poker?
Poker is an actual game of skill, unlike say...slots or "VLTs". The game is currently extremely popular, especially with college and high school students. Underground games are flourishing across Texas.
If the state legalized Texas Hold'em, it would give folks a place to play legally -- and I promise you that many, many of the younger generation are playing but would prefer to play in Texas rather than online or in Lake Charles -- as well as generate revenue for the state.
Posted by Evan @ 07/04/05 01:53 AM
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