400 Million Reasons to Bring Back the Proposal to Legalize 12 Casinos in Texas

While visiting Iowa this weekend, I picked up the saturday edition of The Des Moines Register and was drawn to an article entitled: "Iowa tries to block tribe's casino plans." It seems in iowa a certain indian tribe is trying to build a casino that will be exempt from state taxes and both Iowa and Nebraska are trying to thwart their plans (because they both have tax-paying casinos nearby).
In the reasons cited for Iowa's resistance, the article indicates that the proposed casino would be "adjacent to Council Bluffs" which is home to three casinos-Horshoe, Harrah's and Ameristar. It further states that those three casinos "generate more than 100 million annually in state, city and county taxes."
If three casinos can generate 100 million in taxes for the state of Iowa, imagine what 12 casinos could do for the State of Texas. 400 million or more. Perhaps if we presented this aspect to the public and proposed to use that money to lower property taxes to benefit everyone instead of trying to use it for college scholarships (as was done last session) which only benefits some, we could pass the bill? Food for thought as the 2009 legislative session approaches.