March 22, 2023      2:37 PM

Facing some conservative pushback, Chair Leach begins the uphill climb to legalize sports betting in Texas

Chair Leach and gaming companies point out $7 billion in illegal sports bets are already placed in Texas annually; groups like Texas Values and the Southern Baptist Convention argue "The more you legalize something, the more you have of it”

Facing strong but respectful disagreement from social conservatives including Southern Baptists, Texas House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jeff Leach on Wednesday laid out his proposed legislation to legalize sports betting in House State Affairs.

Of course, it didn’t take long for certain conservative groups to weigh in against the effort which would take a state constitutional amendment and the required two-thirds votes of both the House and Senate that go along with this kind of change. This past weekend, it became perhaps clearer than ever just how hard supermajority support would be to achieve when the Texas House Freedom Caucus reiterated the group’s opposition to any expansion of gambling whether it is in the form of sports betting, casinos, or anything else.

“This is corporate welfare at its worst by giving special privileges to existing wealthy and woke professional sports and gambling businesses,” the caucus said. “This isn’t a free market, and not worth the harm to families in Texas that comes from gambling addiction.” Setting aside the silly language about “woke” sports franchises, that’s a baker’s dozen of House Republicans declaring they are hard “no” votes on gambling.

But on Wednesday, Chairman Leach looked undeterred.

By Scott Braddock

Copyright March 22, 2023, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved