"Restoring gaming at El Paso's Speaking Rock Casino may be one of our state delegation's most achievable goals this year.

Tough economic times, such as these, call for finding revenue sources to help fill the till of Texas' present $167 billion budget. And restoring gaming at Texas' Indian casinos, and allowing slot machines at Texas' horse tracks, would bring in billions of dollars in taxes.

Before it was shuttered by then-Attorney General John Cornyn in 2002, Speaking Rock had reached a yearly revenue of $60 million and was a giant plus to El Paso's economy; it employed nearly 800 people.

Where the pressure appears to lie in this legislative session is in the Senate, meaning our front person to achieve our high-priority goal is our state senator, Eliot Shapleigh. He and our five state representatives in the Texas House are unified in pushing a set of highest-priority goals, which includes the reopening of Speaking Rock."

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Reopen casino: Ball likely in Shapleigh's court (The El Paso Times 1/18)