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HB 222 Passes through House Committee

by , Apr 2, 2009 | 12:09 pm

Comments (12)

Passed 6-3. Nice job, Texas poker people. Calendars committee is next.

UPDATE: http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/04/poker-bill-passes-out-of-house.html


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12 Comments to “HB 222 Passes through House Committee”


  1. Ken     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 12:16pm

    Dan,

    Any idea on scheduling?


  2. DanM     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 12:25pm

    Tuesday is good for me, but if that won’t work for you, I can also do a late lunch on Wednesday.

    Oh, wait, that’s not what you meant, huh?

    I jest … the next step is lobbying the calendars committee to make sure we get on the docket, and then in the right place where we can get an actual House vote.

    Will have more specifics in coming days.


  3. Kevin Mathers     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 12:41pm

    Was the vote this morning?


  4. DanM     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 12:44pm

    I think it was about an hour ago. We won over one rep we didn’t expect by negotiating in a “local option” — meaning certain munis can opt out of the legal poker law — which is fine by us … as the poker side has been pushing for that for more than a year.


  5. Lavigne In Austin     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 12:51pm

    they suspended the rules and held a quick meeting at a member’s desk to vote it out.


  6. Kevin Mathers     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 1:10pm

    With the option included that municipalities vote to allow poker, how much of a delay would that cause?


  7. DanM     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 1:36pm

    not sure … haven’t seen the language to know if it’s an opt-out or an opt-in.

    but what do you mean delay? does it matter if people in Dallas had to wait until summer 2010, as opposed to january 2010, to play fully legal poker?


  8. Kevin Mathers     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 1:45pm

    I mean delay as in if that provision wasn’t in place, when the bill passes and is signed by the Governor, when would the law take effect. Now that I think about it, you have all sorts of issues such as issuing licenses, etc. that would need to take place.


  9. jeff     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 1:52pm

    from what i can gather it would be a local option to allow poker.According to South Texas Rep. It could be on a November ’09 ballot


  10. jeff     says:
    April 2nd, 2009 at 1:56pm

    i guess if this dumb ass (me)read the Dallas article first it would help…….anyways if all goes well we will be playing legal poker in 2010…..i am scouting locations for a poker room this weekend.U think he could slip in an amendment for ladies of the evening.


  11. Ken     says:
    April 3rd, 2009 at 10:26am

    I was so inclined to email Mr Menendez as to what happened yesterday as to what it took for them to get the 6-3 vote.. I didn’t quite understand what had happened and how they are going to integrate the Amendments.. Here is the response I got..

    HB222 will be amended on the floor of the House to provide for a favorable local (county) referendum on allowing poker rooms in qualifying establishments, before an application can be submitted to the Lottery Commission for consideration. All other conditions of the substituted bill remain the same. Thank you for your interest.

    Don Jones
    Chief of Staff
    Rep. Jose Menendez

    Dan, If the Gov. signs this Bill into law, I will meet you at your restaurant of choice for Lunch, even if that means me traveling all the way from Az to do it… 😉


  12. DanM     says:
    April 3rd, 2009 at 10:50am

    I am not one to turn down free food … so sweet … now it’s like I almost have something important riding on the outcome of 222!
    🙂