I got forwarded a response to a constituent from Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) regarding what comes next for poker legislation in Texas, and I thought I\’d share it with the rest of you, as we all continue to learn a thing or two about how the political process works:
Steve,
Last session the Poker I filed got as far as any had before in Texas this one is ahead of where we were last session so the odds are a little better at this time. That having been said the Leg. Is made up of 150 Reps. and 31 Senators and if I can convince a majority of them to pass the bill I still have to have the bill written so that the Gov. won\’t veto it. What I\’m trying to say is that we are a long way from home and we may have to make changes to the bill just to get us to have a safe and legal place to play.Thanks for writing me but importantly write your Rep., Senator and the Gov. Letting them know that you support this and maybe even the full Resort Casino bill that I filed as well.
Jose Menendez
Thank You,
Jose Menendez
______________________
Please excuse typos sent from Blackberry
So there we have it. I\’ll be honest with you … when it comes to financing the efforts to get these bills through, poker isn\’t very well funded. So that means we\’re left fighting the fight about as grass-roots as it gets. (The good side is that we will be less encumbered by outside interests when it comes to whipping the language into shape.) To help out the grass-roots effort, Jeff (in Austin?) has updated his website to make it easier for you to reach out and speak to your representatives about why fully legal poker in Texas matters to you, and why it should matter to them.
