AUSTIN—In 2005, the Sands Casino bought an abandoned steel plant in Bethlehem, Pa., and turned it into a casino. Now, casino promoters want Texas to bet its future on similar construction, and that’s the kind of gamble that’s ripe to go bad, according to the Baptist General Convention of Texas Christian Life Commission.
“The picture of a once-productive business transformed into a casino is the sad illusion of casino promises,” said CLC Director Suzii Paynter. “Casinos produce no product and create no new wealth; the business model depends on addiction. Replacing the once-strong steel industry with a casino front is a visual metaphor for a bankrupt casino economy.”
Proposed legislation
In an April 8 House committee hearing on all proposed gambling legislation, Sheldon Adelson, chairman and chief executive of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., said his company and others are ready to vie for gambling licenses should the legislature legalize full casinos in the state. Even in bad economic times, he said, casino ownership groups are ready to construct Texas casinos when allowed, creating taxable revenue for the state.
But the only thing worse than the gambling interests’ unreasonable revenue projections is its business model for the state, CLC Legislative Counsel Stephen Reeves insisted.
Reeves told the House committee the business model for casinos preys on people around the casinos, sucking money out of the economy rather than investing it into businesses that help the community.
Statistics indicate the majority of people who gamble in casinos live within 50 miles of the operation and typically are economically disadvantaged. Money spent in a casino is like an item placed in a washing machine—circulating only within the confines of the machine, Reeves said.
“People win a little bit and they put it right back in, and that’s money that is out of the local economy,” Reeves said.
In an interview after the hearing, Paynter said casinos will not deliver the $4 billion in revenue for the state lobbyists are promising legislators. Across the country, more than 460 casinos only create $5.7 billion in state revenue. Twelve casinos dotting Texas will not help the state’s budget nearly as much as proposed.
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Revenue projections called "outrageous"
“The revenue projections are so outrageous that the casinos must have ‘billion-itis,’” she said. “Even Steve Wynn, flashy owner of Las Vegas resort casinos, said recently that the only one who wins in the casino business is the owner of the casino. The state will see broken promises, while the casino owners walk away with new fortunes.”
Following the hearing, the committee held all the gambling bills as pending, Paynter said. However, horse track and casino lobbyists continue working to create an all-encompassing gaming bill that they can get to the floor of the House.
Because the bills have been designated as pending, they still can come to the floor of the House without going before the full committee again. Gambling bills also could start on the Senate floor without going before a committee of legislators.
Paynter urged Texas Baptists to let their voices be heard in Austin. Legislators need to know their constituents care about the expansion of gambling and do not want casinos in their backyards, she said.
“One of the things the casino groups always do is they pay for polls that show Texans are favorable to gambling,” she said. “One of the main things people can do is reassure their legislators.”
For more information, call the CLC at (512) 473-2288 or visit www.bgct.org/clc .
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