AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ Representatives of two American Indian tribes on Monday asked Texas lawmakers to let them reopen casinos.
Backers say the proceeds could be used to pay for education, health care and other essential services.
Leaders of the Tigua tribe of El Paso and the Alabama-Coushatta of Livingston went before a House subcommittee on the first casino gambling bill to get a public hearing this session.
Proposals to allow Las Vegas-style resort casinos elsewhere in Texas and slot machines at race tracks also are pending.
The state shut down the casinos in 2002. Only the Kickapoo tribe of Eagle Pass, governed by a different federal law, runs a casino in Texas.
The tribes say they should be allowed to offer gambling because Texas voters approved a state lottery in 1991.
The Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission testified against the proposal.