Study Shows Texas Gambling Ban Sending Casino Pluses to Louisiana
A recent review of the effects of legal casino gambling in Northwest Louisiana found the area enriched by casino revenues, with unemployment well below national levels and crime levels lower than before gambling. Now, a look at conditions in nearby Texas show none of the boost from gambling is helping across the border, where casinos are still illegal.
The Longview News-Journal reports only a minute percentage of tourists come to the Texas town near the Red River to visit the gambling houses in Louisiana. While the Bossier City and Shreveport casinos benefit from Texas visitors, no new business comes to Texas seeking proximity to the casinos.
"When meeting groups staying in Longview go to Shreveport, they are actually spending money in Louisiana and not Longview, and that is not economic impact for Longview," says Longview Partnership Senior Vice President Paul Anderson. " It is more realistic to count it as an economic drain. A meal that would have been purchased in Longview restaurants is purchased in Shreveport."
Texas residents thought the recent legislative session might open some of the benefits of casino gambling to their state, but disagreement among gaming proponents as to which bill to support led to disorganization and disintegration of the gambling effort.
"The gaming in Shreveport has not proven to be a deciding factor for groups deciding to meet in Longview," said Anderson. Meanwhile, Shreveport prospers as Longview suffers scant miles away, victims of its own legislature.
