April 23, 2001

Casino bill hits the floor this week
___AUSTIN--A bill that would legalize casino gambling on three Texas Indian reservations has moved out of committee and appears headed for debate on the floor of the Texas House of Representatives this week.
___HB 514 by Rep. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, and Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin, would allow the Tigua, Alabama-Coushatta and Kickapoo Indians to operate casinos legally on their reservations.
___The bill represents a "legislative end run" around a lawsuit by Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, according to Weston Ware, legislative consultant with the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.
___Last September, the attorney general went to court to shut down the Tiguas' Speaking Rock Casino near El Paso, which generates about $60 million per year for the tribe. The suit, which will come before federal district court this summer, asserts that by operating slot machines and other games of chance, the Tiguas are violating state gambling laws.
___The Tiguas maintain their slot machines and card games are no different legally than the state-sponsored lottery, and they are entitled under the Indian Gambling Regulatory Act of 1988 to run any kind of gambling that is legal in the state. That argument already was rejected by a circuit court of appeals.
___The state asserts the Tiguas were granted federal tribe status in 1987 on the condition they would not operate gambling on their reservation.
___"Now is the time for concerned Texas Baptists and others to contact their elected representatives and urge them to reject any legitimizing of casino gambling in Texas," Ware said.

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