Sheldon Adelson’s casino company, Las Vegas Sands, hired an army of lobbyists and spent millions of dollars on TV ads in a bid to get casinos in Texas. This came after an election season in which Adelson’s money helped keep the state’s Republicans in power.The proposal, which needed to be approved by the people of Texas, would have led to a massive expansion of gambling in the state, which has some of the strictest rules in the country. There were four “destination resort” casinos planned for each of the state’s four most significant cities in the Las Vegas Sands plan, and they were all going to be built in those cities.
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The company has always said that it would stay in Texas for a long time. But the people working on it say that a few things made it hard to make progress during their first meeting.The coronavirus epidemic, the winter weather, and the disputed priorities of Republican leaders were the main topics of the meeting. At least one particular session is on its way. There was a lot of trouble getting through. Progress in the Senate was slowed down by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s alleged opposition to expanding casinos. Sands-backed legislation was also filed late, which meant that lawmakers didn’t have enough time to think about what would be a massive change in the Texas economy.
The state’s budget projections were better than expected, making some people less interested in new revenue sources. Sands said that casinos aren’t a budgetary panacea for Texas.
According to Rep. John Kuempel, who pushed the Sands-backed bill in the House, “anything this big and complex takes time, and we’re only up here for five months out of every two years.” “It takes time to do these.”
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At least $6.3 million was spent on lobbying in the Capitol, and at least $2 million was spent on ads across the state, state records show. For how long this business ran ads, they likely spent more than $10 million in total.
People in Texas haven’t made a push like this in a long time to open up gambling.
Toward the end of the legislative session, Sands’ House bill didn’t move. Sands released a statement saying that it made “great progress” this session and that it would “continue to build community support across the state.” After the proposal’s fate had been decided, the company started to show TV ads in support of its plan.People on the House committee that voted against this bill weren’t as optimistic as the people who voted for the bill.
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In general, Rep. Matt Shaheen of Plano, Texas, tried to do something, but it didn’t work very well, he said. Finally, it didn’t work. “It was a bad idea for Sands, and I don’t think any future investments will be good, either.”
In Austin, people are always moving.
Until late last year, when the number of lobbyists in Texas started to rise, Sands didn’t get the attention of anyone at the Capitol who paid attention. The company hired Gavin Massingill, the outgoing House Speaker’s chief of staff, to run its Austin lobbying for the company.
The company’s goals were apparent even before any laws were made.
Our senior vice president of government affairs, Andy Abboud, told a group of Texas taxpayers and researchers in December that “Texas is a global destination and one of the best places in the world to start a business.” As far as hospitality and gaming go, “Texas is thought to be the best plum that hasn’t been found yet.”