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February 26, 2008
Kickapoos going to Supreme Court
The Kickapoos are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review lower court decisions denying the Eagle Pass tribe’s expansion into Las Vegas-style gaming.
Kickapoos operate a casino that offers bingo and poker, but tribal leaders have argued that it should be able to offer more games because the state operates a lottery.
Last year federal officials gave preliminary approval for the expansion, but the state sued to stop the tribe. Last summer a three-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, sent the case to federal district court.
The tribe is asking the Supreme Court to intervene.
The tribe’s attempts to expand gambling began under then Gov. George W. Bush and his general counsel, Alberto Gonzales.
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April 25, 2007
Gambling bill delayed on technicality
Legislation to reopen two tribal casinos suffered a setback this afternoon.
Rep. Robert Talton, R-Houston, raised a point of order which was sustained.
The bill’s author, Rep. Norma Chavez, D-El Paso, predicted that she would have the bill through the committee and back on the House floor by Monday.
HB 10 would provide a legal defense to criminal prosecution if the Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta tribes reopened their casinos, which the state attorney general closed in 2002.
Talton’s point of order noted that the bill analysis did not conform with the language in the bill; in two instances it referred to tribes and not to tribes or tribal organizations.
Talton, a fervent gambling opponent, said “I’ve been in the Legislature since 1993 and I’ve never voted for gambling.”
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April 17, 2007
Spaghetti western theme to gambling hearing
Spooky spaghetti western music (something from Clint Eastwood’s work) broke out as anti-gambling lobbyist Suzii Paynter stepped up to testify against measures including a proposed constitutional amendment to legalize gambling for Texas Indian tribes.
“God is talking to you,” reacted Rep. Kino Flores, D-Palmview, chairman of the House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures.
“You are so right,” Paynter said.
Flores advocates legalizing casinos in Texas. Paynter works against that possibility.
The lights in the committee room didn’t flicker.
The music, which broke out afresh a moment later, was evidently someone’s cell phone ring.
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