Zombie Texas Lottery Commission back from the dead

AUSTIN—For a few hours April 23, the Texas Lottery appeared dead.

A bill to reauthorize the Texas Lottery Commission, HB 2197, initially failed to pass in the state House of Representatives by a 65-81 vote. However, after a few hastily called huddles by lawmakers, the House reconsidered the matter and voted 92-53 to reauthorize the agency.

The first vote took lottery proponents by surprise and reflected a rising tide of opposition to the lottery, asserted Rob Kohler, consultant with the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission.

“This runs deeper than the pressure lobbyists can exert,” he said. “We’ve come to the point where a lot of members of the House are saying, ‘I’m being bombarded by constituents who want to know what’s going on, because they thought the lottery would fund public education.”

The initial vote reflected lawmakers facing facts and making a logical decision, said Rodger Weems, chairman of the Texas chapter of Stop Predatory Gambling.

“The lottery clearly exploits the poor, and the lottery clearly failed to live up to its promises to fund public education,” he said.

However, lottery supporters claimed abolition of the lottery would mean less for the state budget, and the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, successfully urged the House to reconsider the measure.

Rather than cling to a failed enterprise like the state lottery, Weems expressed regret lawmakers did not seriously consider alternative ways of raising revenue.

“For instance, raising the alcohol excise tax 10 cents per serving would provide a larger, more stable and less regressive revenue stream—and it likely would have the added benefit of curbing underage drinking,” he said.