In the southern American state of Texas and the billionaire boss of American casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corporation has reportedly been splashing the cash in advance of the consideration of proposed legislation that would seek to legalize some forms of online gambling.

According to a Tuesday report from Austin-headquartered television broadcaster KXAN-TV, 87-year-old Sheldon Adelson (pictured) serves Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for the Las Vegas-headquartered casino behemoth and recently joined with his wife to pump some $4.5 million into the campaign coffers of Republican candidates in ‘The Lone Star State.’

Aggravating aspects:

The newspaper reported that this investment came after a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives proposed a constitutional amendment that would allow select coastal jurisdictions to premiere iGaming. Although an identical effort failed earlier this year, the upcoming measure could purportedly prove more popular due to the fact that the giant state is struggling with an estimated budget shortfall of around $4.6 billion as well as economic stagnation brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Coming consideration:

Joe Deshotel reportedly initiated the constitutional amendment so as to help his jurisdiction offset the high costs of wind storm insurance and provide residents with aid in the event of a catastrophic flood. The Port Arthur representative moreover purportedly declared that land-based casino gambling is legal in the neighboring states of Arkansas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Oklahoma and that his measure, which may begin its legislative journey as early as January, could help to ‘preserve Texas cash in Texas.’

Deshotel reportedly told KXAN-TV…

“Now is possibly the very best time that the possibility of legalizing online casinos has had in fairly some time. We are attempting to stop cash leaving Texas in such giant quantities so that it can instead go into coffers right here and be used to serve Texans who need assistance.”