Legislation

Mexico – Mexican State of Tamaulipas gives casino gaming the green light

By Phil - 28 November 2018

With 30 votes in favour and four against, the Congress of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas has approved the ruling to allow casinos in all 43 municipalities of the region.

According to the lawmaker from the PAN party (The National Action Party) Teresa Aguilar the new bill will allow for more tax revenue for the state. “It will allow the installation of casinos, betting centres or similar in the state, which has as one of its purposes to strengthen public finances by creating two taxes derived from the operation of these places,” she said.

Located in northeastern Mexico, Tamaulipas shares its border in the north with Texas. Its capital is Ciudad Victoria with other big cities including Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Tampico, and Mante.

At the end of May of last year, The Parliament of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas approved legal reforms, which prohibited the installation of any more casinos or gambling centres after approving the full bill put forward by Governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca. Located in Northeastern Mexico, the state of Tamaulipas has a population of around 3.2 million. Reynosa, one of its major cities, is located directly across the border from Texas. The state began a major crackdown on illegal gaming in 2016 and gaming laws were changed in order to avoid the operation of casinos, betting centres and table dancing clubs. Aimed at reducing organised crime and money laundering, legislators reformed article 134 of the Political Constitution of the State of Tamaulipas, as well as a number of zoning laws and laws concerning the setting up of bars and other establishments, which were allowed to serve alcohol.

The new initiative promoted by the independent local deputy, Humberto Rangel Vallejo, was presented days before the Plenary, to be turned over to the Committee on Legislation and Constitutional Matters.

However, local deputy of the PRI (The Institutional Revolutionary Party) criticized the new proposal saying that the initiative to reopen the casinos had been rushed.

“It is not that we are against the casinos, the issue is the haste, the initiative has just been presented, we know that it can generate jobs, we know it would bring an investment, but we have to meet those of us in this Commission to analyze the document “, he pointed out.

Both The Federation of Chambers of Commerce (FECANACO) and the National Chamber of Restaurants and Flavoured Food Industry (CANIRAC) have been calling for the state to allow for casinos. Members of both chambers estimate that casinos would generate approximately $4bn in tax revenue and would play an important factor in the growth of the local economy. Both chambers said that they agreed that changes in local law were needed as significant progress has been made over recent years, which would mean that casinos would comply with local state laws.

image by By XHUANX – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8926447