Texas HJR 52 Revives the Casino and Sports Betting Amendment — Voters Would Decide on Nov. 2, 2027
Rep. Charlie Geren has brought back his casino and sports wagering amendment for the 2027 session as HJR 52, filed on the first day of prefiling. It caps casinos at 10 facilities and the gaming tax at 15 percent — and it still needs two-thirds of both chambers before voters ever see it.
AUSTIN — The Texas casino fight is open again. Rep. Charlie Geren, a Fort Worth Republican, filed House Joint Resolution 52 on Nov. 9, the first day of prefiling for the 2027 legislative session, reviving his proposal to let voters decide whether the Legislature may authorize and regulate casino gaming and sports wagering in Texas, LegalSportsBetting.com reported. Texas Legislature Online lists the resolution as filed in the House, with no committee referral yet.
The new filing is, by the report's comparison of the introduced texts, the old filing warmed over: HJR 52 repeats Geren's 2025 HJR 137 word for word apart from the election date, which moves to Nov. 2, 2027. The 2025 version was read a first time and referred to the House State Affairs Committee on March 19, 2025, and the record shows no hearing or vote after that.
What the text would set is mostly ceilings. An enabling law would have to hold casino licenses to no more than 10 licensed facilities in the state, each with an initial term of at least 40 years, and a tax on casino and sports wagering revenue could not exceed 15 percent, with no additional state or local tax layered on top. Casino gaming would be limited to onsite play at a licensed operator's physical premises, keeping online casino games out. For sports wagering, the text leaves the locations to the Legislature and does not say “online,” “mobile” or “retail” — where Texans could bet would be decided by the later enabling law. The resolution also directs a process for the state to negotiate a Tribal-State gaming compact with any of the three federally recognized tribes with Indian lands in Texas, at a tribe's request.
The arithmetic remains the hard part. A joint resolution reaches the ballot only with two-thirds of each chamber — 100 of the Texas House's 150 members and 21 of the Senate's 31. Republicans hold 19 Senate seats, the report noted, and the Texas Tribune's post-election count it cited projects Democrats at 83 House seats after their Nov. 3 majority win, which would leave the measure needing substantial Republican support in both chambers. Lt. Gov.-elect Vikki Goodwin, the Democrat who unseated Dan Patrick, will preside over the Senate when lawmakers return to Austin on Jan. 12, 2027; bill filing runs through March 12. Texas does not authorize sports wagering today, so even a winning ballot vote would be only the first step — a general law setting the rules would still have to follow.
