Texas Legislator Pre-Files Resolution For Voters To Decide Casino, Sports Betting Fate

• Rep. Charlie Geren (R-99) pre-filed a joint resolution for Texas voters to potentially authorize casino gaming and sports betting
• Geren filed HJR 52 on the first day to pre-file bills before the 2027 legislative session begins in January
• The bill will allow for up to 10 casino licenses, sports betting legalization, and a tax rate of no more than 15% for both

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No less than a week after Texas flipped blue, a longtime Republican representative has filed a bill to legalize casino gaming and sports betting in the Lone Star State.

Rep. Charlie Geren (R-99) pre-filed joint resolution 52 to allow for a constitutional amendment vote to legalize casino gaming and sports betting. HJR 52 will need to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the Texas House and Senate to appear on the state’s general election ballot.

The joint resolution will, at a minimum, define the activities that constitute casino gaming and sports betting, set license application fees for both, impose a tax rate for both, and allow Texas to enter into tribal gaming compacts with any of its three federally recognized Indian tribes.

Is 2027 the Year for Texas Gaming?

HJR 52 will be considered first in the Texas House of Representatives when the state opens its legislative session on Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2027, at noon local time.

If approved by a two-third vote in both chambers, Texas voters will have the final say on casino gaming and sports betting in the state. The joint resolution effectively limits the total number of casino gaming licenses to 10 with an initial license term of at least 40 years.

All casino gaming will be limited to the license holders physical location, effectively prohibiting iGaming in the state. No such prohibition exists in the joint resolution for sports betting, so it will likely be up to the legislature to determine if online sports betting will be allowed.

Additionally, the resolution will also allow the Texas legislature to do the following:

• Define the activities that constitute casino gaming and sports betting
• Set licensing fees and application fees
• Determine where casino facilities may be located
• Impose a casino gaming and sports betting tax on revenues not to exceed 15%

The resolution, if approved, will also allow the state to enter into tribal gaming compacts with its three federally recognized tribes. The Alabama-Coushatta, Kickapoo Traditional, and Ysleta Del Sur Pueblo tribes will be allowed to offer Class III Indian gaming on tribal lands with approved gaming compacts.

Geren’s bill is likely the first of several pieces of gaming legislation that will be introduced for the state’s 2027 session.

Will Democrat Leadership Lead to New Gaming?

No state may have done more for its sports betting legalization chances than historically Republican led Texas did during the midterm elections. Voters ousted incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott (R) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) in favor of democrat gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa and democrat lieutenant governor candidate Vikki Goodwin.

Both Hinojosa and Goodwin are far more pro-gambling than Abbott or Patrick. While Hinojosa’s role as governor will likely not have much of an effect on the state’s chances to legalize, Goodwin as lieutenant governor will have a far greater impact.

Through Texas’s regulatory framework, the role of the lieutenant governor actually holds much more power. The Texas lieutenant governor essentially leads the Senate, and over the past several years prior Lt. Gov. Patrick has made it no secret that he did not care for its legalization.

The Texas Republican Senate leader declared he would not bring up any bills in the Senate for a vote unless they had majority Republican support.

“I’ve said repeatedly there is little to no support for expanding gaming from Senate GOP. I polled members this week. Nothing changed. The senate must focus on issues voters expect us to pass. We don’t waste time on bills without overwhelming GOP support. HB1942 won’t be referred. #txlege,” Patrick wrote on X in 2023.

During the 2023 legislative session, the Texas House of Representatives approved an online sports betting bill, as well as a bill to legalize through a constitutional amendment, for the first time in the state’s history.

The victory was short lived, however, as Patrick said there was no majority Republican support for sports betting and he would not bring the bill up for a vote in the Senate.

Lt. Gov. elect Goodwin previously said she would support a ballot measure to legalize sports betting and casinos put to the public for approval. Goodwin also seems more open to support Senate discussion of sports betting legalization than Patrick as well.