To the Voters of Bexar County Precincts 1-2-3-4: 

We need your support to STOP the proposed legislation and the potential impacts of expanded casino gambling in Texas.   This issue is of urgent importance to ask our Texas Legislators to protect our State by upholding our State Constitution.  Our Republican Legislators must affirm our Republican Party Platform principles, beliefs, and priorities!  

Please support our Resolution Against Predatory Gambling as follows: 

Whereas the Texas Constitution now and since 1876 has prohibited gift enterprises, of which casinos have been defined as by the courts;;

Whereas the Texas Republican Platform includes specific language adopted by the people to oppose any expansion of gambling, including legalized casino gambling; and Republican representatives in Texas are expected to uphold our Platform through acknowledgement and action; and

Whereas a Republican legislator partnered with Democrat legislators, backed by publicly traded gaming corporations introduced legislation to amend our State Constitution to legalize comprehensive commercialized gambling in Texas, including resort casinos, online gambling, horse-racing operations, and commercialized sports betting; and

Whereas “predatory gambling” is when corporate gambling interests partner with government to cheat and exploit citizens.  Associated social and financial problems are passed on to citizens while any profit is limited to corporations and corrupt politicians; and

Whereas the promised jobs, education funding, and boons to the State budget have proven to be a major political con job in other states, as most jobs in casinos are low wage, non-skilled jobs, and over time revenues are a decreasing and economically unstable source of budgetary funding; and

Whereas “pathological gambling” is diagnosed as an addiction on the same level as heroin, cocaine, and opioids as defined in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), used by health care providers and insurers; and

Whereas in commercialized predatory gambling, Texans will be tempted to take risks which are 13.5% successful by a business intended to exact a personal financial loss at the gain of gambling corporations, bosses, lobbyists, and politicians, who are the winners of a state-sponsored cash stream on behalf of the citizens of the State of Texas; and

Whereas local businesses near large casinos suffer since gamblers are encouraged to gamble, eat, shop, and sleep with no reasons to journey outside the casino; and

Whereas commercialized predatory gambling incurs major social costs potentially harming taxpayers and families, targets and exploits low-income citizens, cultivates addiction, increases rates of bankruptcy and foreclosure, and provides new avenues for crime and money laundering. Citizens living near casino areas are more likely to become addicted.  Texas taxpayers will pay the social costs, not the out-of-state gambling operators, lobbyists, and corporations, who do not care about the damage; and

Whereas the proposed State support of comprehensive commercialized predatory gambling in Texas violates free-market principles by selecting and protecting large corporate interests in certain larger cities; it will drain customers and low wage workers from legitimate small businesses not similarly protected; and do nothing to help rural areas that need good jobs and careers for their citizens; and

Whereas the Texas/Mexico border is a high crime area with smuggling and human trafficking providing huge profits for the cartels along the border, any casinos would be a prime target for money laundering and corruption of public and private officials; and

Whereas casinos and racetracks are proposed to be mostly located in larger urban metro cities with highly organized Cartel operations, this makes these cities even more subject to the threat of corruption and political influences which are in direct conflict with the best interests of the citizens.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, We, the members of the Bexar County GOP, support the unambiguous positions in the Texas Constitution and the Republican Party of Texas Platform that gambling shall NOT be expanded in Texas and urge the members of the Texas Legislature to cease and desist with any efforts to expand commercialized gambling in the State of Texas in direct conflict with these documents; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Secretary of the Bexar County GOP is directed to immediately transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Chairman of the Texas Republican Party and to all elected Republican officials in the Texas Senate and in the Texas House; to the Honorable Greg Abbott, Governor of the State of Texas; and to the Honorable Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor of the State of Texas.

Dated:  March 2023 as submitted to the Bexar County Executive Committee.