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Poker Bill On The Move!

Comments (20)
by , May 1, 2007 | 1:59 pm

HB 3186 was voted out of the House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee. We will be seeing our first Texas House vote on Poker as early as Friday. More to come, but for now please contact your State Representative and ask them to support HB 3186, The Texas Poker Act.


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  • Tim B.

    ive called to encourage my representative to support the bill… but how do i find out if he actually DID or not? is there somewhere i can go to find out how my rep voted on a particular bill?

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    Tim,

    It isn’t very easy to find that sort of information. Who is your rep? as of this point, only 9 members have voted on this bill (the committee).

    you will be able to follow the bill here:
    http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=80R&Bill=HB3186

  • Tim B.

    House District 66–Representative Brian McCall… when this all shakes out, i want to know how he voted… so i know how to vote :)

    is there any way to get the minutes or a transcript of a committee session? i assume that stuff is public record. online would be great but if ive got to ask for it by mail i can do that… im just curious to see how that stuff works, and who the nays were, and who abstained.

    wow, who knew poker could be such a good civics lesson? :)

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    I don’t recall where he is on this and i don’t have the list in front of me now. If you send me an email after the house vote i can find it for you. if there is a record vote, which there probably will be, then it will be available in the house journal. generally, there is audio and sometimes video of committee hearings. i believe the hearing has been posted on this site before.

    this meeting, where it was voted out of committee, was held in an impromptu fashion and likely has none of that.

  • Tim B.

    this meeting, where it was voted out of committee, was held in an impromptu fashion and likely has none of that

    ahh, accountability at its finest :(

    thanks for the help… im starting to get really motivated about this. dunno how long it will last, so i figure i should make the most of it before i return to my normal state of apathetic laziness :)

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  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    Good! you should be, Tim. We have a ways to go still, but we are very much alive and in the game. I’m fairly certain that there has never been a poker bill go this far even. If we all work hard now, we won’t have to start over in a year and a half…

  • Woody

    Nice work, Ed and the gang. I have sent my representative (also McCall) another e-mail reiterating my support of HB 3186.

  • Tim B.

    i could be wrong but… isnt it better to call?

    i mean, anyone can send an email. i figured a phone call looked more motivated, like it might carry a little more weight…

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    yeah, calling is better, but anything is helpful.

  • Woody

    Figured the odds of speaking with McCall were slim and none if I called. And last time I sent him an e-mail, he sent a personalized, specifically-tailored letter in response to my e-mail (it wasn’t a mass-mailing form acknowledgment).

    Also, Ed…were there any meaningful modifications/revisions to the bill that will be presented to the House?

  • Zero

    I just called my rep (Jim Jackson) and the guy that answered the phone was very helpful as far as information goes.

    He didn’t know what Jim Jacksons stance was on the bill, but he said he would let him know that I support the bill.

    When I told him I live in his district, he was all of a sudden more interested in what I had to say. He took down my name and number.

    He also said he doubted it would get voted on as early as Friday. He said something about it needing to get put on the calendar and if it wasn’t voted on by May 8th or added onto another bill by then it would most likely be dead.

    So I would say call your rep and let them know you live in their district and you support bill 3186.

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  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#freshp Fresh Princess

    Dan/Lavigne

    Comment 12 by Zero is very informative. I would post this.
    Thanks Zero.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#freshp Fresh Princess

    PS
    I called Ellen Cohen’s office and they are going to update me on her position. They told me they had a lot of phone calls already in support of the bill and no against so far.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    This is all useful. Keep posting your results. We should be on the floor by Tuesday. Maybe Monday.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#freshp Fresh Princess

    FYI ~ Ellen Cohen is for the bill.

  • Patrick The Longtime Lurker

    When the bill was first introduced back in March, I sent an email to my representative, the Honorable Marc Veasey (D) of District 95, in support of 3186.

    Less than two weeks later, I got a hand-signed letter from him, wherein he assured me that my opinion would be considered if the bill came up for a vote. (Pretty encouraging.)

    Last week prior to their vote, I sent every member of the Licensing Committee an email asking for their support of 3186, so I guess I’ll take credit for it passing 6-2. :o )

    I then sent yet another email to Rep. Veasey, reminding him of my position on the bill and strongly encouraging his support of it when the time comes, as it apparently soon will.

    I have encouraged my poker buddies to contact their representation as well, and they have done so.

    It’s just drops in the bucket, sure. But with enough drops, the damn thing gets full eventually.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#mike Lavigne in Austin

    Nice work Patrick. It DOES make a difference. And yes, they do add up. Many electeds may not have an opinion on the matter either way. They will then ask their staff if they got any correspondence on the issue as they make up their mind.

  • http://pokerati.com/about-us/#freshp Fresh Princess

    No, I need to take credit for the pass because I opened my testimony saying that a fellow volunteer would rather see a charity benefit rather than the gangsters and now Kino says Texas needs to support the bill because criminals are making the money. or something like that.
    uh, that was joke BTW