Fort Worth's Charlie Geren Reopens the Texas Casino Fight — and the Senate's Two-Thirds Wall Is Still Standing
The Fort Worth Republican's constitutional amendment, filed on the first day of bill filing, would let voters decide on casinos and sports betting. It needs two-thirds of a Republican Senate whose own presiding officer's powers are now in question.
AUSTIN — Texas has its first gambling-expansion measure of the 2027 session, and it comes from Fort Worth. Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, filed a House joint resolution on Monday, November 9, the first day of bill filing, that would put a constitutional change to the voters giving lawmakers the power to permit and oversee casinos and sports betting, according to ReadWrite's report, read in full by this desk. The resolution would require lawmakers to cap the number of casino facilities statewide, set initial license terms of at least 40 years, and leave the Legislature to decide where sports betting could take place; the ballot wording would describe licensing, application fees and a tax on casino and sports-wagering revenue at a limited number of locations. Geren framed a statewide vote as the end of the debate either way, saying a rejection at the ballot box would close the question permanently.
The politics have moved since his last attempt, but the arithmetic has not. Democrats won control of the Texas House in the November 3 election while Republicans held the Senate. A constitutional amendment needs two-thirds of both chambers, then a majority of voters, with approved amendments going on the November ballot after the session ends. In 2023, online sports betting passed the House with 101 votes; Geren's casino resolution reached only 92, short of the threshold the betting measure cleared. As a state representative, lieutenant governor-elect Vikki Goodwin backed the 2023 gambling measure; the office she won was held by Dan Patrick, who blocked gambling expansion for years.
Which is why the Senate's leadership fight may decide the measure before any vote on its merits. Republicans control the chamber, and on November 9 Patrick urged Republican senators on conservative radio to strip Goodwin of her powers as Senate president before she takes office; a simple majority could do it once the chamber reconvenes in January. Goodwin's transition team said she wants to work with Republican senators and believes Texas is 'best served by a deliberative, collaborative body.' Industry money has not yet moved the map: in the March primaries, anti-gambling incumbents beat challengers backed by the Las Vegas Sands-funded Texas Sands PAC and Texas Defense PAC, to which Miriam Adelson had given $9 million, though Texas Sands PAC has pledged to keep investing in candidates who favor bringing casino gambling to Texas.
