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Associated Press
25-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Texas Lottery Commission to be disbanded as state game gets new restrictions
On Sunday night, Gov. Greg Abbott ensured the Texas Lottery will continue for another four years, signing into law new provisions to clamp down on the state's games after lawmakers weighed abolishing the lottery entirely. As lawmakers sparred over high-profile issues like public school funding, property tax cuts and THC regulation, the Texas Lottery emerged as a smaller, unexpected flashpoint during the recently-completed regular session. Criticism of the lottery and the Texas Lottery Commission largely stemmed from two controversies: a $95 million Lotto Texas win claimed by a single group that purchased 99% of the 25.8 million possible ticket combinations and the proliferation of online ticket sales through apps known as lottery couriers. Couriers act as ticket resellers, printing physical tickets for customers across the state in small stores they own before sending digital scans of the tickets for customers to view through apps. Some lawmakers said the services violated state law, which banned sales 'by telephone,' while providers said they acted legally and with the approval of the lottery commission. The couriers' unclear legal standing was further exacerbated by the commission, which allowed the services for years before suddenly moving to ban them mid-session. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, made banning couriers one of their top priorities. The result was Senate Bill 3070, introduced almost two months after the filing deadline but granted an exception by the Senate so it could move forward. The bill, which took effect immediately, allows the lottery to continue until 2029, but with greater restrictions and without the Texas Lottery Commission, the agency that has run the game for three decades. The bill prohibits online ticket sales and abolishes the commission; starting Sept. 1 the lottery will be run by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. A TDLR spokesperson said it was 'premature' to discuss the specific structure of their lottery oversight, but that they have organized a three-person transition team and are assembling working groups with both TDLR and lottery commission staff. For a moment, the controversy that rocked the state's 33-year-old lottery through the session seemed to provide a window for long-time detractors an opportunity to abolish the games completely. But concerns over how the state would replace the $2 billion that the lottery provides yearly to the public education fund ultimately halted those efforts. 'It didn't take a lot of in depth discussion, It was really around, 'We're so far into the budget for this next session, we're not going to be able to end (the lottery),'' Hall said. 'We need the income to balance the budget for this next (biennium,) and so let's work out how we make that happen.' Hall, SB 3070's author, had been at the forefront of the lottery's opposition, but called his bill 'the next best thing' to abolition. The new law allows players to purchase up to 100 tickets in person at lottery retailers during store hours. Selling tickets online or through apps or websites will be a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. Lawmakers say that will prevent a replay of the $95 million win secured by the purchase of 99% of the possible ticket combinations. Legislators will have another opportunity to decide the lottery's fate in 2029, as SB 3070 requires lawmakers to extend the game after a review by the Sunset Advisory Commission. Even with all the new guardrails in place, lottery critics like Hall say it may not be enough to satisfy his and others' long term concerns. 'I would much rather have seen an end to the lottery for a number of reasons,' Hall said. 'I do not feel that there's anything in any book on good government that has the state being involved in the gambling business.' While questions still remain about how TDLR will continue the lottery — and who will help them — much of the lottery commission's top administration has already stepped out of the picture. The agency's executive director, Ryan Mindell, resigned in mid-April, a departure that was bookended by resignations from two of the five commissioners in February and May. The end of the lottery commission does not mark the ends of its controversies, however. The Texas Rangers, a division of the Department of Public Safety, are currently investigating two jackpot wins — including the $95 million win — as well as courier operations in Texas. The commission is being sued by the winner of an $83.5 million jackpot who has not been paid yet. Kristen Moriarty, the Houston-area woman who won the jackpot in February, bought the ticket through Jackpocket, the country's largest lottery courier. Her win is also part of the Rangers' investigation, and the Lottery Commission has cited the investigation as the reason she hasn't been paid — but Moriarty said she has yet to be contacted by anyone with DPS. 'It was excitement and happiness at first, and then it just has progressed to stress and anger,' Moriarty said. DPS did not respond to questions on Moriarty's case, stating they cannot comment about ongoing investigations. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bill creating more weekend early voting could boost turnout, but delay election results
This coverage is made possible through Votebeat, a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access. Sign up for Votebeat Texas' free newsletters here. Texans will have a new schedule for early voting in coming years under new legislation that starts the voting period later but slides it right up to Election Day, eliminating the three-day break in between. Experts say Senate Bill 2753, which lawmakers approved this week, will likely boost turnout, as it includes more time for voting on weekends. The author of the bill, Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, told Votebeat that the change also 'simplifies the process' and would reduce the cost of election operations and equipment. But local election officials said they aren't so sure of that, and are still determining how it will work and what it could cost counties. The bill doesn't allocate any funding for counties to implement the changes. And there's one notable side effect of taking away the gap after the early-voting period: Partial vote tallies from the early ballots, which are typically released shortly after polls close on Election Day, won't be available until later, election administrators said. The bill is headed to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for his signature, though it can become law without it. The changes have to go into effect no later than August 2027. Some election officials warned that they are likely to need additional election workers to work longer hours to comply with the requirements, as well as more voting equipment and possibly additional polling locations. 'These are just things that we don't know yet because we haven't run an election in this model yet,' said Jennifer Doinoff, Hays County elections administrator and the legislative committee chair for the Texas Association of County Election Officials. 'It's something we're going to have to look at and build from the ground up.' It's not yet clear when counties would begin implementing the changes. The bill directs the Texas secretary of state to adopt rules and procedures to implement the new timeline and provide a report telling the Texas Legislature 'as soon as practicable' after Sept. 1 that the agency 'has consulted with county election officials and is confident that the counties in this state are prepared." Also, the Legislature could make changes based on the secretary of state's report because there is a full regular legislative session in 2027 before SB 2753's new early voting timeline has to be used. Currently, during general elections that have county and state offices on the ballot, Texas offers 12 days of early voting, starting the 17th day before Election Day and ending four days before Election Day. This allows for only a single weekend of voting. The new law would also require 12 days of early voting, but the period would begin on a Thursday and run for 12 days straight, including two weekends, right up to Election Day. In addition, Sunday voting hours would be extended from six to nine hours a day, and early voting would also be available on any holidays during that period. While the number of days doesn't change, election officials said the new schedule will eliminate a treasured break for workers before Election Day, and they worry they'll lose workers without it. Some officials also said it can be hard to find people to work Sundays. In Collin County, the early-voting staffers typically also work on Election Day, said Kaleb Breaux, the county's elections administrator. 'It's a laborious process for them, just mentally and physically,' Breaux said. 'By the time they get to that last week of early voting, they're just worn out.' Election offices also used the break to set up equipment for Election Day voting, which uses a different set of machines. Election officials will have to work out whether and how to pay poll workers for any overtime. The bill didn't allocate any funds for counties to pay poll workers. Hall, the bill author, played down the concerns about staffing, and said he expects some workers would prefer to work on the weekend. 'It's a matter of organization and management,' he said. Hall said he doesn't anticipate new personnel costs since the total number of days the polls will be open won't change. The bill will also require changes to the way election officials allocate their space and equipment. It will require any location used as an early-voting polling place to also be used as an Election Day polling place, a new mandate. But in some counties, finding and leasing facilities is difficult. 'We'll have to completely reconfigure early voting,' Trudy Hancock, the Brazos County elections administrator said. Election officials are also anticipating changes in the timeline for posting election results on Election Day. Early-voting ballots will have to be tabulated at the same time as Election Day ballots, and the extra volume will add to the time needed to complete the security and paperwork steps required after polls close. So tallies from each polling place could take longer to come in, Breaux said. Hall said he doesn't expect the timeline for full election results to change very much. The partial results that may be delayed 'serve absolutely no purpose in the election process other than to give people a piece of information as quickly as possible,' he said. 'I expect they'll be able to get the total votes not much later if the counties handle it right,' he said. The schedule change aligns Texas more closely with 22 other states that have a single voting period that runs right up to Election Day, including Arkansas, Missouri, Colorado, Indiana, California and Illinois, according to the Voting Rights Lab. Hall told Votebeat he didn't model the bill after any specific state. In some of those states, making voting accessible the day before Election Day has helped increase voter turnout, said Daniel Griffith, senior policy director at Secure Democracy Foundation. 'That Monday just right before Election Day, that's when a lot of folks are really thinking about the election,' Griffith said. 'The later you kind of push that last early voting day, the more participation you get.' Colorado, which is primarily a vote-by-mail state, implemented a single voting period over a decade ago and it has worked smoothly. For in-person voting, the entire state uses a countywide voting model, where people can vote at any polling location in their county — for the entire voting period. That means election officials have fewer polling locations to staff. Fewer than half of Texas' 254 counties use the countywide model. In the rest, voters have to cast their ballot at their assigned precinct, which typically requires more polling locations on Election Day. The number of early-voting sites varies from county to county, and not all of them use the same sites on Election Day. Texas counties will need funds and resources to implement the changes in the bill, said Jennifer Morrell, CEO and co-founder of The Elections Group, an election administration consulting firm. Colorado reimburses local jurisdictions when there are state or federal candidates on the ballot, Morrell said, and adjusts the amount for changes in poll worker pay and other costs. Texas will need to do the same, she said. 'Costs go up: paper, ink, equipment,' Morrell said. 'You can't just make stuff up and then expect a local jurisdiction to just do it without additional funding. And even if election officials get creative, they can't maintain it for long.' Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. She's based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@ Disclosure: Secure Democracy and Texas Secretary of State have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here. Big news: 20 more speakers join the TribFest lineup! New additions include Margaret Spellings, former U.S. secretary of education and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center; Michael Curry, former presiding bishop and primate of The Episcopal Church; Beto O'Rourke, former U.S. Representative, D-El Paso; Joe Lonsdale, entrepreneur, founder and managing partner at 8VC; and Katie Phang, journalist and trial lawyer. Get tickets. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to end Texas Lottery Commission goes to Gov. Abbott
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Legislation to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) is closer to becoming law. Friday night, Senators accepted House amendments to Senate Bill 3070, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott for approval. SB 3070 would allow lottery games to continue, but would abolish the TLC and hand over control of the Texas Lottery and Charitable Bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). The decision comes amidst a host of scandals for the commission, resulting in investigations from both the Texas Rangers and the Attorney General's Office. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, filed the legislation, after originally filing a bill to eliminate the lottery entirely. The final version of the legislation calls for the incoming Texas Lottery division of TDLR to undergo a sunset review to see how they're functioning under the new department. It sets a decision on whether to abolish the lottery completely in 2029.' 'Specifically, sunset will assess whether TDLR has sufficient tools to ensure the integrity of the game,' Hall said Friday on the Senate floor. Hall said TDLR will not pay out a lottery prize unless the winner submits forms required by the IRS, and that information is verified. The bill also calls for lottery mobile applications to end. If Abbott signs the bill into law, the lottery will have this summer to transition to TDLR before the TLC is abolished on Sept. 1. Because the TLC is up for sunset anyway, a Abbott veto would still mean the TLC is abolished on Sept. 1, but the Texas Lottery would go with it. After the vote earlier this month in the House, the commission issued a statement saying it will follow the direction of the legislature. 'The TLC is prepared to fully support the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation with ensuring that a smooth, seamless and successful transition occurs for both the administration of the lottery and the regulation of charitable bingo,' the commission's statement read. Hall has previously said that he would prefer that the state get out of the lottery business altogether. On Friday, he suggested more legislation could come in the future. 'Senate Bill 3070 represents a new chapter in our efforts to protect Texans from a vice that takes advantage of the poorest people in our state. But this is not the end of the story,' Hall said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Texas Republicans want to block cities' gun buyback programs
The Texas Senate gave preliminary approval Monday to a bill that would prevent cities or counties from holding a gun buyback program. The proposal also seeks to stop local governments from sponsoring or organizing such a program. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, told lawmakers Monday it was a 'necessary guardrail against misuse of local authority.' Much of the debate on House Bill 3053 focused on the often fraught relationship between local governments and the state Legislature. State Republican lawmakers have spent multiple legislative sessions reining in city councils in the state's largest metro areas, which are often run by Democrats. State Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas, asked Hall who is best to make choices for a community: the state or a city council. Hall said all levels of government have an equal role in serving the people. 'I don't agree that they always know what's best for the people just because they're closest to them,' Hall said. West said the bill usurps the authority of city council members to make decisions for their constituents. Hall said the bill is about making sure money is not wasted on things that are 'ineffective.' West called it bad policy. 'What you're doing is telling people the government closest to the people is not best for them,' West said. State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, D-San Antonio, said state lawmakers are stewards of state dollars, but not city money. 'No disrespect, but how dare you come to me and tell me what the City of San Antonio should do with their tax dollars?' Gutierrez asked. Gutierrez then listed out several recent policies pushed by Republicans — banning social media, renaming the Gulf of Mexico, and the F.U.R.R.I.E.S. Act — that he says go into big government territory. Other parts of the debate did focus on the merits of buy-back programs, which Hall called 'ineffective.' He also suggested the programs insinuate that gun ownership is illegal. State Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio, said his city and Houston have held successful gun buyback events. The voluntary program in San Antonio exchanged weapons for gift cards. 'People were happy to take something that was going unused and exchange it for something they could take care of their family with,' Menendez said. Hall responded that 'it's not the role of government to go out and buy people's guns in order for them to be able to buy their food.' State Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, brought up situations where people want to dispose of old firearms or collections that were left behind from deceased family members. Miles asked how people would be able to do this without buyback programs. Hall said again they could sell the guns, but Miles said the reality of the situation is more dangerous than Hall thinks. Miles said some of the people in his community would be forced to put them in the trash. 'One solution doesn't fit all,' Miles said. 'Everybody doesn't go to gun shows, everybody doesn't know how to go online or have computer access to sell a firearm.' The Senate will vote on the bill one more time before it has final approval. ___ This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Guilty pleas revealed in Sons of Confederate Veterans campaign finance case
The State Board of Elections has revealed its first criminal convictions — two guilty pleas to a misdemeanor charge — in the six years after state lawmakers made campaign finance investigations secret. That outcome drew little praise from a campaign finance watchdog whose complaint to the elections board prompted the case. He says it took too long and resulted in too little. In January, two leaders of a political action committee for the Sons of Confederate Veterans pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting cash contributions in excess of $50. They were ordered to pay a $100 fine and court costs, according to a letter the board sent to Bob Hall, the retired executive director of Democracy NC. Court records show Mitchell Flinchum of Burlington, the PAC's treasurer, and Thomas Smith of Raleigh, the PAC's assistant treasurer, pleaded guilty to the misdemeanors on Jan. 23. Neither the board nor prosecutors announced the convictions at the time. Hall did not find out until he received a letter known as a 'closure notice' from the board that was dated May 16, nearly four months after the convictions in Wake County District Court. 'It's a pitiful settlement, but at least they admitted to engaging in criminal activity,' Hall said in a news release Tuesday. Hall filed a lengthy complaint against the nonprofit North Carolina division of the Sons of Confederate and its Heritage PAC in January 2020. He did so after The Daily Tar Heel, the UNC-Chapel Hill student paper, revealed evidence of illegal donations to the PAC. The nonprofit had struck a secret $2.5 million deal with the UNC System to take possession of the controversial Silent Sam statue memorializing Confederate soldiers at UNC-Chapel Hill, which protesters tore down. A judge later pulled the plug on the deal. Prior to the 2018 law, the board would make public complaints and election records associated with them, until it found possible criminal conduct, Gary Bartlett, the board's executive director from 1993 to 2013, told the N&O last year. At that point, the board withheld information until a public hearing before the board that included testimony from witnesses. Transparency from such hearings, which legislators ended, helped give the public confidence that campaign finance cases were being handled appropriately, Hall and other government watchdogs have said. A public hearing would have shed light on claims Sons of Confederate Veterans members made that they were pressured to make cash donations to the PAC and that they had been listed as the source of other donations they did not make, Hall said. 'It would have triggered tax investigations and racketeering investigations by the federal investigators, it very much could have done that,' Hall predicted. Smith could not be immediately reached for comment. Mitchell declined to talk about the case. 'As far as I'm concerned it's settled,' he said. 'I'm glad after all of it to hopefully have it in the past.' Efforts to interview state elections officials and Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman about the outcome of the Heritage PAC case were unsuccessful. Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the board of elections, said in an email that the board did not see a concern with issuing its notice of the case's outcome last week. 'Campaign finance investigations are confidential under state law,' he wrote late Tuesday afternoon. 'From our perspective, the case was open until just recently, and we provided notice of the status to the complainant.' The board's letter to Hall said that it investigated the nonprofit and its PAC for roughly a year, turning over its findings to the State Ethics Commission for its recommendation. Requiring that referral was another change to campaign finance investigations from the 2018 legislation. The commission's recommendations are also confidential. The commission's review added two months to the case, the board's letter showed. In June 2021 the board referred the case to the Alamance County district attorney to investigate Flinchum and to Freeman in Wake County to investigate Smith. The case was later consolidated in Wake County. Freeman asked the SBI to investigate further. When asked about the length of time it takes to resolve elections board cases referred to her, Freeman said the elections board is hampered by a lack of funding and staff and the SBI's financial crimes unit is taking longer to do its work. Hall criticized Freeman's handling of the case, and others in recent years that did not lead to criminal charges, in his news release. 'It's disappointing that the District Attorney took so long to accomplish so little,' Hall said.
