A Texas legislator is attempting to break the state’s longstanding ban on casino gambling.

Last week, Texas State Rep. Joe Deshotel filed HB 2741, which aims to award “not more than nine casino gaming operator licenses” to deserving candidates, who will be taxed at 18% of gross gaming revenue. The bill would require a voter referendum on modifying the state constitution to permit commercial casino gambling.

The nine licenses would be distributed as follows: one license each in Galveston, Jefferson and Nueces counties; three licenses in Bexar and Harris counties, each of which must go to an existing pari-mutuel racing licensee, with no county receiving than two licenses; and one license in each of three first-tier coastal or second-tier coastal counties, with these also reserved for pari-mutuel licensees.

While its aims are honorable, Deshotel’s bill is unlikely to make much headway in the notoriously gambling-phobic state, as evidenced by its attorney general’s hardnosed campaign against daily fantasy sports operators.