Las Vegas Casinos Are Buying the Texas Legislature

Las Vegas Casinos Are Buying the Texas Legislature

Vegas Goes Big for Dade Phelan

  • After mainly remaining on the sidelines ahead of the primary, casino companies seeking to turn Texas into their crony monopoly piggy bank are spending big to back the current House Speaker and his allies. Daniel Greer has the details.
  • Chief among these out-of-state interlopers is Las Vegas Sands, giving through its “Texas” Sands PAC. The largest beneficiary of Sands’ money in the latest filing period is embattled House Speaker Dade Phelan (R-Beaumont). They gave Phelan $200,000, making Sands his second-largest contributor in the latest filing period.
  • Gambling special interests have long targeted Texas but have been rebuffed for decades following failed promises of the Texas Lottery. During the 2023 legislative session, the Texas House advanced gambling measures that the Texas Senate ignored.
  • Rather than create a free market, Phelan’s push would have seen the creation of a state bureaucracy handing out geographic monopolies to multi-national conglomerates like Sands.
  • Besides Phelan, the other big recipients of Sands cash went to Phelan allies like Republicans John Kuempel, Lacey Hull, Richard Hayes, Hugh Shine, Steve Allison, Justin Holland, and Charlie Geren. Democrats getting casino cash include Harold Dutton and Ron Reynolds.

https://blast.texasscorecard.com/t/d-e-endrjl-dryudktlut-th/

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