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Hearing Tomorrow on SJR 64 – Contact Your Legislator Today!

Sen. John Carona (R-Dallas) held a press conference on Monday, April 8 to announce that a committee hearing for  SJR 64 has been scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th at 8:00am in the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce. Sen. Carona’s SJR 64 would allow Texans to decide on expanded gaming through a referendum ballot.  John Montford, spokesman for Let Texans Decide; Jack Pratt, chairman of the Texas Gaming Association; and  Bill Hammond, president of the Texas Association of Business were all in attendance.  Here’s what they had to say about SJR 64:

Sen. John Carona: “This bill provides for a very limited number of casinos and the protection of the public, including those with a moral objections, comes from the fact that it is a constitutional amendment,” Carona said. “Once the language is agreed upon and sent to the voters, the voters get to choose, and legislators can’t come along and change it without voters being re-engaged.” (Associated Press, 04/08/13)

John Montford: “We feel like the people of Texas are smart enough, educated enough and certainly savvy about what’s going on that they ought to be able to decide this issue for themselves.” (Star-Telegram, 04/08/13)

Jack Pratt: “We’ll have plenty of people. This will be the largest state that’s ever had this type of offering for many, many years,” Pratt said. “So it’ll be very competitively bid. […] It’s time for this long debate to reach John Q. Public.” (Star-Telegram & Texas Tribune, 04/08/13)

Bill Hammond: “This is about bringing capital into our great state. And we know it’s been stated that when we bring capital, we bring good jobs with good benefits to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.” (Dallas Morning News, 04/08/13)

Again, the Senate Business and Commerce Committee is holding a hearing on SJR 64 WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10.  This bill needs to pass the committee to go to the full Senate for a vote.  Contact your legislators today to tell them you support letting Texans decide on gaming through referendum vote.  Find your legislators’ information here!