Texas native casino legislation stopped by a tie vote

The attempts of two Texas Indian reservations to reopen casinos closed by a federal court ruling in the state five years ago, were stopped by a tie vote. The Texas House of Representatives voted today on whether to allow the Tigua and Alabama-Coushatta tribes to host poker, bingo and pull-tab games on reserve land and the results were tied, 66-66.

The legislation should have received one more vote in favor in order to pass, so it was overruled. The supporters of the bill said that the legislation would have allowed only those two tribes to operate the casinos, so they could solve their financial problems.

The tribes would have been the only beneficiaries from this legislation, because gambling in the state would have still remain illegal. The opponents of the bill said that the legislation would have opposed the laws of the state.

The Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, which is the third recognized tribe in Texas, has approval from the state to gamble. The two other tribes, Tigua and the Alabama-Coushatta hosted casino on their land until 2002, when the federal ruling was installed.