Senate approves bill to move lottery administration
The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and move administration of the state lottery to a different state agency.
The Senate voted 31-0 in favor of SB 3070. The bill would dissolve the Texas Lottery Commission and transfer oversight of the lottery—as well as charitable bingo—to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It also establishes a lottery advisory committee.
Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, author of SB 3070, previously had introduced legislation to do away with the state lottery altogether. In presenting SB 3070 in a Senate Committee on State Affairs hearing on May 13, Hall called the current bill “the next best thing.”
The measure places limits on the number of lottery tickets a retailer may sell to one individual in a single transaction and limits the number of lottery terminals any given licensed retailer can have.
It also encompasses provisions of SB 28, a bill Hall introduced early in the legislative session. That bill bans lottery couriers—third-party vendors who enable buyers to purchase lottery tickets through their websites or mobile apps. The Senate unanimously passed SB 28 in February.
Bill moves to Texas House
The measure to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and move its regulation now moves to the Texas House of Representatives, where it must pass out of committee by May 23 for the House to vote on the bill before the end of the legislative session.
The House already had eliminated funding for the Texas Lottery Commission in the budget it approved for the next two years.
The bill mandates a limited-scope Sunset Advisory Commission review of the state lottery during the next fiscal biennium. Unless the lottery is continued at that time, it will be abolished.
If the lottery operates under the administration of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, it will “be under a bright light for the next two years,” said Rob Kohler, consultant with Texas Baptists Christian Life Commission.
The Texas Lottery Commission currently is the subject of several investigations and lawsuits.
In February, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to investigate both an April 2023 bulk purchase of lottery tickets that enabled a group to claim a $95 million jackpot, as well as a more-recent $83.5 million win involving lottery couriers.
Attorney General Ken Paxton also announced his office was launching its own investigation into the Texas Lottery to determine whether any state or federal laws were broken.