Except for two Native American-owned properties in far-flung parts of the state, casinos are banned in Texas. But one of the biggest casino and resort companies in the world wanted to change that.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation made a big lobbying bet this past legislative session to try to convince lawmakers to ask voters to amend the state constitution to allow for gambling.

As Forrest Wilder reports for Texas Monthly, it didn’t work.

“Sands is one of the largest casino gambling and destination resort companies in the world. They got their start in Las Vegas, but all six of their properties are now in Asia,” Wilder said. “The company was started by the late Sheldon Adelson, who is a pretty well-known figure in American politics, and it is now controlled by his widow, Miriam Adelson. She is a billionaire and also is well known for her contributions to President Trump’s presidential campaigns.”

Despite casinos being largely illegal in Texas, Sands recently tried to push through a rezoning proposal in Irving.

“Sands went ahead and Irving tried to push through a rezoning proposal where they would take a property they own near the old Texas Stadium where Dallas Cowboys used to play,” Wilder said. “Under this zoning proposal, they would be able to build a casino, as well as other things for shopping and an arena, perhaps for the Dallas Mavericks. And this ended up producing a pretty huge local backlash that ended up killing the deal.”

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Sands has been open that they think Texas is their ticket to reopen casinos in the U.S, according to Wilder.

“They argue the black market in Texas is already enormous,” Wilder said. “Why not take all of that illegal activity that Texans are doing anyway – for example, by placing bets on their phones, on sports and that sort of thing – and turn into the sort of high-end legal luxury properties that they’ve been developing in the U.S. and elsewhere for decades?”

Sands hired over 100 lobbyists to try and convince lawmakers to open a path toward casinos in Texas.

“They invested tens of millions of dollars in political campaigns,” Wilder said. “They ran an expensive, nonstop TV advertising campaign that probably most of your listeners saw at some point.”

However, Wilder said he talked to experts that felt this level of marketing backfired.

“One person told me just being so aggressive that it kind of came across as bullying,” Wilder said. “[They made] a lot of enemies in the Republican grassroots, which is never a good idea in Texas if you want to get something done at the Legislature.

“Nobody knows the future. They say they’re not going away; they are unintimidated and are going to keep pressing forward. But from what I heard from a wide array of sources on all different sides of this issue is that they took a big step back and that they’re going to have to kind of go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can move forward at this point.”

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COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M athletics plans to trim its department budget by almost $10 million as a result of the recent House v. NCAA settlement, which requires universities to pay their student-athletes.

Trev Alberts, A&M’s athletic director, told reporters Monday about the department’s plan to increase scholarships, reduce spending and staff, and create a new position to deal with the ramifications of the settlement, which calls for student-athletes to be paid by their schools.

Student-athletes were previously able to sign endorsement deals or make salary demands from third parties under loosened name, image and likeness rules. Alberts said he was “really excited about having a hard cap” and excited about work on NIL Go, a clearinghouse that will review NIL deals.

“This (settlement and resulting committee) has to work for the future of college athletics,” Alberts said. “It’s worth saying, you know, an unregulated market that we’ve lived in the last three to four years is not in the best interest of anybody, including the student-athletes.” 

A&M’s plan is not finalized, with some savings and cut estimates still being calculated, according to a fact sheet provided by Alberts. The settlement — a result of a 2020 class-action lawsuit against the NCAA — approved by a federal judge earlier this month says that each university must pay athletes $20.5 million out of their revenue-sharing agreements. The decision took over a year to be finalized after the NCAA agreed last May to settle the suit. Texas A&M trimmed several athletics positions in April 2024, just before the NCAA bowed out of its legal fight against revenue sharing.

“I knew that this (settlement) was coming,” he said, “but, you know, I think any time you have a transition, (staff changes are) kind of normal in a sense.” 

How Texas A&M is finding the money to pay its players

Alberts, 54, said he felt the department was “a little heavy” in its executive staffing. Hecame to A&M in March 2024 after serving two-plus years as the AD at Nebraska, where he was an All-American linebacker in the 1990s. 

The total of the cuts, along with projected revenue increases, will provide an additional $26.5 million in “financial resources,” the fact sheet states. Texas A&M athletics in fiscal year 2024 made $266.4 million in operating revenues and spent a total of $243.7 million, according to public records obtained by kbtx.com in College Station. Most of that $22.7 million in profit was due to football, which raked in more than $118 million compared to $90 million in expenses. That includes over $27 million being paid to former coach Jimbo Fisher, per KBTX.

Football is A&M’s only revenue-creating sport, Alberts said, but revenue-sharing will be spread among six Aggies programs: football, baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, softball and volleyball.

“We’re going to have (a) best-in-class, fair-market value, NIL strategy,” Alberts said. “It’s where I think Texas A&M has a great strategic advantage… bringing all of our combined assets together to create the best fair-market value NIL strategy for all of our student athletes, (that) should be a separator for us.

“How do we leverage the largest living alumni in the SEC?…”

The changes following the settlement are already being felt, said Alberts, who spent over an hour Monday on campus, discussing the future of the school and college athletics as a whole with local media members. 

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LUFKIN — Texas lawmakers this year added $100 million to a scholarship fund to help families across the state pay for early child care, an extraordinary investment that may ease a waitlist to help thousands of children.

However, advocates say legislators fell short in creating more opportunities for the state’s youngest living with disabilities.

“Most families with children with disabilities are really struggling in one area, if not multiple,” said Bethany Edwards, director for research and evaluation at the Center for Transforming Lives, a North Texas nonprofit that helps single mothers. Edwards is also a parent of a child with disabilities.

“And there’s a lot that can happen from a policy standpoint to change these systems, but change seems to happen very slowly,” she said.

Expanding the state’s public preschool programs to children with disabilities and incentives for more and better training for child care workers were among the proposals that fell short this year. Texas lawmakers ended the legislative session June 2.

David Feigen, the director of early learning at Texans Care for Children, said early access to quality education programs can have long-term benefits for children with disabilities.

“When children enroll in early learning programs, their world really opens up,” Feigen said. “These early experiences are really critical for all children, but they’re really particularly critical for children with disabilities.”

Under current rules, children are eligible for preschool through a public school district if they come from low-income households, have limited English proficiency, have parents in the military, are homeless, in foster care or have a Star of Texas Award.

While that criterion captures many children with disabilities, it doesn’t account for them all. And adding a disabilities designation would create more opportunities for a group that often struggles to find adequate care, Feigen said.

Children with disabilities who learn alongside their typically-developing peers are often motivated to make bigger strides in their skill development, said Katrina Campbell, CEO of the Brighton Center in San Antonio. Her organization helps a broad spectrum of children with disabilities in myriad ways, including its own preschool program.

“It’s pivotal to have children with special needs in an inclusive setting, especially those really formative years,” Campbell said.

Access to early childhood education is invaluable for all families, but especially for those whose children need a little more support, Feigen said.

Lawmakers tried — and failed — to create more high-quality care options for children with disabilities beyond preschool. For example, House Bill 175 would have created new certificates for child care providers who enhance their offerings to care for children with disabilities. The Texas Workforce Commission already has some local training options for these providers.

If the bill had become law, supporters believe it would have created more spaces able to serve children with disabilities.

Federal law prohibits facilities from denying a child entrance to their programs if they are disabled. However, it costs more to care for children with disabilities because centers need to employ more and specialized staff. And if the facility can prove it is incapable of providing adequate care, it can ask the family to seek support elsewhere.

The expansion of the child care scholarships will help, advocates say. However, they are not the perfect solution.

A private pay family will pay $1,350 a month to attend the Brighton Center in San Antonio, Campbell said. The state only pays $850 a month for scholarships. This leaves the program with a $500 deficit per child per month, which adds up quickly.

The Brighton Center, as a nonprofit, does what it can through fundraising and other programs to close the funding gap. Most programs don’t have that option.

To help others in their region, the Brighton Center tries to teach other facility operators how to help children with disabilities so fewer children are asked to leave local programs. Campbell hopes those facilities will try to accommodate one or two children with disabilities, just to begin chipping away at the massive need.

One change lawmakers made that advocates hope will yield dividends is aligning a few of the agencies that manage the state’s child care efforts.

“Our state hasn’t been nimble enough to comprehensively address the challenges,” Feigen said. “And guidance can be inconsistent, the work to address nagging problems can be disjointed.”

House Bill 2310, which was signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 20, will require agency leaders from the Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission and Health and Human Services Commission to collaborate on early learning solutions for children with disabilities and delays. These leaders will work with providers, policy experts and families.

There have been efforts to bring agencies together in this way on other aspects of child care, and it has been effective, Feigen said. But there needs to be a concerted effort for children with disabilities.

Edwards is hopeful, but not optimistic that this bill will change anything for these families.

“It’s definitely not a bad thing, but it’s also just a plan to create a plan at this point,” Edwards said. “It won’t change the experience for parents or for families that are currently struggling and who are currently in the broken system.”

Disclosure: Texans Care for Children has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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