Texas may be next in line to legalize gambling

Texas senators continue to deliberate over legalizing gambling as a bill proposes to “reform and support the horse racing industry.”

Shortly after debating over a Bitcoin reservation bill, Texas becomes the latest state to consider permitting gambling.

Discussions continued from November 2024, when the Texas bill, Joint Resolution 16, proposing to legalize gambling, was first introduced.

Joint Resolution 16 would open the doors for horse racing betting, allowing seven casino locations to legally offer gambling services across Texas’ largest metro areas.

The bill states that introducing gambling would “foster economic development and job growth” while providing “tax relief and funding for education and public safety programs.”

It also seeks to establish the Texas Gaming Commission to regulate and oversee casino gaming. Operators within the state would have to pay a licensing fee in addition to a casino gaming tax.

Currently, Texas residents can only legally gamble by traveling to neighboring states such as Louisiana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

The state finds itself in a similar situation to Hawaii, where it is measuring economic benefits to social risks that come with ratifying gambling.

A study posted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), a non-partisan American research institute aiming to inform lawmakers, highlights how gambling could affect Texas by looking at Ohio as an example.

It highlights how gambling could serve as a new source of revenue for the state but warns that “it would come with a commensurate increase in associated social problems,” such as vulnerable users developing a gambling addiction.

Gambling addiction-related searches are already at an all-time high following the industry expansion, and TPPF raises concerns that Joint Resolution 16 may contribute to the problem.

In the study, Derek Cohen, chief research officer at TPPF, said: “As gambling itself has liberalized across the country in recent years, it is often attended by modest increases in tax revenues collected by cities, counties, and states.

“Less understood, however, is the attendant ‘social cost’ of such expansion. Naturally, individuals with a predisposition to ‘problem gambling’ present a difficult policy question for lawmakers to navigate: what is the tolerable amount of human suffering to top off public coffers?”

If passed, Texas could potentially become the 39th state in America to have legal gambling, sports betting, and casino venues.

Featured image: Javon Swaby / Pexels

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