Latest news with #SB3070
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas House votes to abolish Texas Lottery Commission; save Texas lottery
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Sunset review couldn't have come at a worse time for the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC). While TLC was listed by USA Today as one of the best places to work in 2025, in September it's likely no one will be working there. Sunset review is a process most state departments go through every 12 years. During a review, the legislature has to actively renew the department or they cease to exist. However in this case, the legislature is proactively killing the TLC. Saturday night, the Texas House passed an amended version of Senate Bill 3070, which abolishes the TLC and hands 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. While the Senate passed SB 3070 unanimously, House sponsor Charlie Geren, R-Lake Worth, re-wrote the bill based on conversations with TDLR. Each bill calls for the incoming Texas Lottery division of TDLR to undergo a sunset review to see how they're functioning under the new department. However, the Senate's version called for a full review in 2027, while the House calls for a review in 2029. Additionally, the scope of the House's proposed review is more narrowly-tailored to determine if TDLR is the best home for the lottery, and to determine if the lottery is following the guidelines set out by the legislature. Both versions call for lottery mobile applications to end, however the Texas House removed a provision from the Senate's version which required TDLR to post the minutes and guest list for all formal or informal meetings regarding contracting, procurement or policymaking of the lottery. The Senate added this language after a lawsuit alleged former TLC officials worked with courier services to brainstorm the best ways to implement lottery mobile applications. Geren's version also stripped a provision banning automatic renewals of contracts the TLC entered in before the transfer becomes official on Sept. 1. Most interestingly, the Texas House removed a provision allowing the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Speaker of the House or the Attorney General from acting as lottery investigators. The language was added to the Senate version after the retailer Winners Corner — affiliated with the mobile app Jackpocket — refused to let Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick inspect how many lottery terminals they had in their backroom. On Monday, the House will likely hear SB 3070 for a third reading. Should it pass there, it will be sent back to the Texas Senate where they can either agree to the changes or determine which disputed provisions should remain in the final bill. Either way, the elements both sides agree on will likely be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign. If he signs, 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. 'Ensuring the integrity, security, honesty and fairness of the agency and its games is the top priority for the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC). The TLC respects the legislative process, serves as a resource to the Legislature, and will follow the direction of the Legislature,' a representative for the TLC said in a statement. '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.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
House clears the way for Texas Lottery to continue under a different state agency
The Texas House on Sunday preliminarily voted to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and transfer the state's game to another agency after a last-ditch effort to kill the game entirely failed. The fate of the 32-year-old lottery commission had been in limbo, as a routine state review requiring legislation to extend the game's existence had come concurrently with some lawmakers' calls to shut down the lottery entirely over allegations of wrongdoing. An alternative was presented earlier this month in an unusual late-session filing of Senate Bill 3070: let the Texas Lottery Commission die, and transfer game operations, including charitable bingo operations, to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The bill is now likely the lottery's only way forward, as neither of the two 'sunset' bills continuing the commission have been touched by lawmakers for months. Beyond the agency move, SB 3070 contains several other lottery regulations also proposed in other bills this session. Those new restrictions include a new ban on online lottery ticket sales with language almost identical to one of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's legislative priorities, Senate Bill 28. It also sidesteps the lottery's final hurdle, its loss of funding after the House removed it from its next biennial budget proposal in April. That money would have needed to be returned to allow the agency to continue. Rep. Charlie Geren proposed a new 60-page version of the bill from the House floor, fine-tuning some of the proposed investigative tools the new lottery department would have to root out illegal sales. SB 3070 also contains a provision requiring the Sunset Advisory Commission to review the lottery's operations under its new agency before 2029 to determine whether it should continue. That deadline was originally in 2027 when the bill passed through the Senate unanimously on May 15, which Patrick described as a 'two-year lease on life' for the game. Before ultimately OK'ing the bill 110-29, House members struck down a proposal to end the lottery altogether, as Rep. Brent Money, R-Greenville, introduced an amendment to Geren's bill that would have abolished the game entirely in September. That amendment failed 71-58. Money called the lottery the 'most regressive tax' in Texas, and his supporters claimed the game unfairly preys on the poor and could not be run fairly in any capacity. 'The problem is, as a legislature, if we know an agency is corrupt, shouldn't we just abolish it?' Rep. Nate Schatzline, R-Fort Worth said during floor discussion on Sunday. The lottery has received significant criticism from lawmakers over two jackpots won under circumstances they say epitomize the commission's failure to oversee the game safely. In the first, a single group in April 2023 printed 99% of the 25.8 million possible ticket combinations — called a 'bulk purchase' — winning a $95 million jackpot. In another February win, a Texas woman bought the winning ticket, worth $83.5 million, through an online app known as a lottery courier. First reported by the Houston Chronicle, the 'bulk purchase' received national coverage after it was revealed that millions of tickets were printed at four different locations on dozens of lottery terminals provided specifically for the mass-ticket effort. A lottery courier was also involved in the bulk purchase, which comprised 99% of the 26 million possible ticket combinations for the jackpot, but did not sell the tickets through its online service. Couriers, who had been operating in Texas by printing physical tickets at retail stores they owned before scanning and sending digital copies to customers, would be banned under SB 3070's online ticket sale restrictions. The online services' operations became another point of contention between the lottery commission and lawmakers after the agency passed its own ban on couriers after it maintained for years it could not regulate them. That rule is currently being contested in court by a national courier company, The lottery commission's likely dissolution is just one part of the fallout from the controversial jackpots and concerns over couriers. A commissioner with the lottery resigned in February, followed by its executive director in April. The $83.5 million win has yet to be paid out, as Attorney General Ken Paxton and the Texas Rangers, a division of the Department of Public Safety, are still investigating both jackpots for potential illegal activity. The anonymous woman filed a lawsuit last week seeking to force the lottery commission to release her winnings. SB 3070 requires a final vote in the House and the Senate's approval of the House's changes before heading to Gov. Greg Abbott. The governor has largely remained silent on the lottery's fate outside of ordering the Texas Rangers to launch an investigation in February. The bill would take effect immediately if signed, as it received more than two-thirds majority vote in the House and a unanimous vote in the Senate. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill that would give the Texas Lottery 'a two-year lease on life' gets Senate approval
The Texas Senate unanimously approved a bill that would abolish the Texas Lottery Commission, move the state's game to a different agency and add several new restrictions on how lottery tickets can be purchased. Senate Bill 3070 would move the Texas Lottery and the state's charitable bingo operation to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and create new criminal offenses for people who buy lottery tickets online or en masse. The bill also mandates a review in two years by the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission that will determine if the game should continue in any capacity. 'They have a two-year lease on life — we'll see what happens under the new agency,' Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said as the bill was passed on Thursday. SB 3070 provides one of only two paths forward for the lottery past September, as the lottery and its agency were already on the chopping block without the added action by lawmakers. The department is currently undergoing a routine review by the Sunset Commission, and requires legislation for it to continue. Senate Bill 2402 is the 'sunset bill' that would maintain the lottery commission but it has an additional hurdle: legislators removed all of the lottery commission's funding in its next budget proposal, and it would have to be placed back into the budget for the commission to continue operating. Either bill must still pass out of a House committee by May 23 for the lower chamber to weigh in on the game's fate. The House Licensing and Administrative Procedures Committee recently heard Senate Bill 28, which would ban couriers, and left it pending in committee. For months, legislators have placed the lottery commission under scrutiny that has sparked investigations, resignations and calls to abolish the game completely. That criticism has largely stemmed from lawmakers concerned about a $95 million jackpot won in April 2023 by a single group that printed 99% of the 26 million possible ticket combinations in a 72-hour period, a process known as a 'bulk purchase.' Under SB 3070, buying more than 100 tickets in a single purchase would be a class B misdemeanor. To pull off the bulk purchase, the group partnered with four commission-licensed lottery retailers, who ordered dozens of ticket-printing lottery terminals that ran for days to print millions of tickets. That jackpot, as well as the proliferation of online ticket sellers known as lottery couriers, was only possible because the lottery commission willingly assisted them, Sen. Bob Hall said during his layout of the bill. 'The problems we've had are not a result of some very smart people from outside the government figuring out how to beat the system. What we had here was the criminal activities taking place came from within the commission itself,' Hall said, alleging the administrative rules the commission created and the subsequent bulk purchase were in violation of state law. The Edgewood Republican filed SB 3070 on Monday, and the bill is an amalgamation of several other bills filed throughout the session. The bill would ban online ticket sales and courier services, making digital sales a class A misdemeanor. It also mandates tickets only be bought within licensed retail stores and create an advisory committee for the game. Patrick lauded Hall as the bill was passed, crediting him for heading the legislative effort to rein in the lottery. Patrick has also been one of the loudest critics of the state game, posting two videos on social media during the session about the lottery and suggesting it may be abolished. 'Almost all the credit goes to you. You've been on this from the beginning,' Patrick said to Hall during floor discussion. Hall also presented a bill earlier in the session that would abolish the lottery, and described SB 3070 as the 'next best thing.' SB 2402 nor its House counterpart have been heard in committee, and the House bill missed a key deadline to move it out of committee. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Senator's bill would save Texas Lottery, but end Lottery Commission
AUSTIN (Nexstar) – A Texas state senator who previously called for eliminating the Texas Lottery is now proposing legislation that would keep the games going. Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, filed Senate Bill 3070, which calls for transferring lottery operations to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and abolishing the Texas Lottery Commission. Hall was one of the first lawmakers to call for an investigation into the Texas Lottery Commission over their alleged role in a controversial 2023 Lotto Texas drawing. He previously filed Senate Bill 1988, which would eliminate the lottery. On Monday, Hall laid out SB 3070 before the Senate State Affairs committee. Hall restated his belief that the Lottery Commission helped rig the 2023 jackpot drawing. He also outlined his belief that the lottery amounts to a regressive tax on poor Texans. Hall showed fellow senators on the committee charts showing that people in lower income areas in Texas make up the majority of lottery players. High income areas account for significantly fewer lottery ticket purchases. 'When we talk about the revenue raised by the Texas Lottery, we're talking about revenue raised to the detriment of those in our state who are the most vulnerable and least fortunate,' Hall told committee members. But Hall also acknowledged an argument made by supporters of the lottery. He noted that the Texas Lottery contributed more than $2 billion to benefit schools and veterans in fiscal year 2023. 'So if there isn't enough of an appetite to get rid of the lottery outright, then this bill represents the next best thing – moving oversight of a lottery operation to TDLR and dissolving the Lottery Commission,' Hall said. SB 3070 calls for creating a Lottery Advisory Committee 'to provide external expertise on the lottery.' It would also ban ticket sales via phone, internet, or app. The bill also limits the number of lottery tickets that could be sold in a single purchase to 100 tickets. Senator Hall told committee members that there will likely be amendments to the bill. He outlined plans to include restrictions on where people can buy tickets, age verification requirements, as well as tougher penalties for illegal ticket sales. The committee left the legislation pending. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New Senate bill offers last-minute reprieve for troubled Texas Lottery
A bill that would keep the Texas Lottery alive and enact sweeping changes by placing it under a new agency was heard in a Senate committee on Monday, a last-minute lifeline for the increasingly scrutinized department and its games. Senate Bill 3070, filed by Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, would abolish the Texas Lottery Commission and move supervision of the state-sponsored game under the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The proposal also contains provisions from several other bills currently being considered by lawmakers in both chambers that would increase oversight of the game and create new criminal penalties for online play and mass purchases of tickets. 'If there isn't enough of an appetite to get rid of the lottery outright, then this bill represents the next best thing,' Hall said during the Senate State Affairs hearing on Monday. All of the bills aiming to tighten the lottery come as the game and its commission have been criticized by lawmakers throughout the session after two lottery jackpots involving lottery couriers sparked concerns of illegal activity. Lottery couriers print and scan tickets for customers, usually at licensed retail stores they own, as a way of playing the lottery online. The first jackpot was won in April 2023 when a single group with ties to a courier used four licensed retailers and dozens of ticket-printing lottery terminals to buy 99% of the 26 million ticket combinations, scoring a $95 million jackpot. The second jackpot was won in February, by a ticket purchased through a courier app called Jackpocket. Fears about couriers enabling money laundering and sales to out-of-state and underage customers have culminated in several lawmakers suggesting the lottery be eliminated entirely. Hall's omnibus bill is a potential lifeline for the Texas Lottery, as deadlines are approaching that will determine whether the game and the billions in funding it provides to public schools will continue. Despite being months past the Legislature's bill filing deadline, SB 3070 was filed by Hall on Monday at the end of the Senate's session alongside a few other bills after senators voted to suspend the rules. The bill includes a total ban on lottery couriers and online ticket sales with criminal penalties — identical to Hall's Senate Bill 28, one of Lt. Gov Dan Patrick's 40 priority bills. SB 28 was unanimously passed by the Senate in February. SB 3070 would also ban customers from buying more than 100 lottery tickets in a single purchase, establish a lottery advisory committee and limit the total number of ticket-printing lottery terminals licensed retailers can have. Those restrictions echo looser provisions suggested in Senate Bills 1346 and 2153. The Senate already approved a bill that would move the state's charitable bingo operations to the licensing and regulation department, which SB 3070 also proposes. The proposed move for the lottery, however, requires the state's Sunset Advisory Commission to conduct a review of the game by Aug. 31, 2027, to determine whether it should be abolished. SB 3070's current proposals may not be its final form, either. During the Senate hearing, Hall listed four amendments he said would be filed once the bill reached the Senate floor that would add provisions not currently in any bill. Those amendments would amplify criminal penalties for illegal ticket sales, require that individuals, not business entities or limited liability companies, cash in winning tickets and create restrictions on where tickets can be bought. The amendments would also deputize the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and speaker of the house as approved inspectors for the lottery, allowing them to enter licensed lottery retail stores and investigate where they keep equipment. That provision comes after Patrick posted videos of himself on social media visiting a lottery courier on two separate occasions, including in April when he was denied entry into the back of the store where they keep their terminals. 'Whenever you're in business and you're doing business with the taxpayers of Texas, transparency is the key,' Patrick said in an April 29 video from inside a courier-owned retailer after an employee denied his request to see their lottery terminals. The lottery commission is currently under a routine review by the Sunset Commission, which state agencies undergo every 12 years, and requires legislation to continue its operations. Without SB 3070, one of two 'sunset' bills in either chamber must be passed; as of Monday evening, neither have received a single hearing. SB 3070 also circumvents the lottery's looming budget obstacles, as the House removed the lottery commission's budget for the next two years from the state's budget proposal. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
