Latest news with #SenateBill3070
The Hill
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
Judge orders Texas Lottery Commission to protect $83.5 million of disputed funds won in February jackpot
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A Travis County judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) and its acting executive director from spending any of the $83.5 million a Houston woman won in a February Lotto Texas jackpot. None of the jackpot has been paid out because the Texas Rangers are currently investigating the win — along with an April 2023 jackpot win — to see if there was any foul play involved. The judge wrote in the ruling that the Texas woman 'will be irreparably harmed if Defendant Sergio Rey, in his official capacity as acting executive director for the Texas Lottery Commission causes the $83,500,000 jackpot prize to be diminished, wasted, or paid to another before the merits of Plaintiff's claims are fully and finally adjudicated.' The ruling comes the same day a bill to end the TLC was sent to the Governor's desk for final approval. Senate Bill 3070 would eliminate the commission and transfer the operation of the lottery and charitable bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Randy Howry, the lottery winner's attorney, said he believes the restraining order will also apply to the TDLR if the Governor signs the bill into law. The restraining order has a limited lifespan. In this case it will only last three days because there is an evidentiary hearing on June 5 for a temporary injunction. A temporary injunction would protect those funds until a trial can happen. Howry and his client are worried the February lottery winnings could be spent on other winners or pay for other costs within the commission as it faces extinction. 'We're doing everything we can to protect these funds,' Howry explained. The Texas woman won the Feb. 17 lottery drawing worth $83.5 million. The woman purchased $20 worth of tickets on the Jackpocket app, a service that allows players to buy tickets over the phone. Those services are known as lottery couriers and they have become the target of lawmakers this session who believe they are against the laws written in the state and believe the lottery commission acted beyond its means to allow couriers to operate in Texas. Some lottery courier services were involved in helping a single entity, known as Rook TX, purchase and print more than $25 million worth of tickets in a 72-hour time span in April of 2023. That number of tickets nearly guaranteed the entity would have the winning ticket for a $95 million jackpot. This session lawmakers have questioned the TLC and its commissioners about how something like that could happen. Lawsuits have been filed against those courier services and the former executive director of the commission. In February, a week after the Texas woman won the jackpot, the TLC said it was banning lottery courier services and the Governor directed the Texas Rangers to investigate those two wins. Howry said he and his client were told by the commission they could not be paid out while the Rangers investigated. However, Howry says he and his client have not been questioned by any agency regarding the February drawing.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge orders Texas Lottery Commission to protect $83.5 million of disputed funds won in February jackpot
AUSTIN (Nexstar) — A Travis County judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) and its acting executive director from spending any of the $83.5 million a Houston woman won in a February Lotto Texas jackpot. None of the jackpot has been paid out because the Texas Rangers are currently investigating the win — along with an April 2023 jackpot win — to see if there was any foul play involved. The judge wrote in the ruling that the Texas woman 'will be irreparably harmed if Defendant Sergio Rey, in his official capacity as acting executive director for the Texas Lottery Commission causes the $83,500,000 jackpot prize to be diminished, wasted, or paid to another before the merits of Plaintiff's claims are fully and finally adjudicated.' The ruling comes the same day a bill to end the TLC was sent to the Governor's desk for final approval. Senate Bill 3070 would eliminate the commission and transfer the operation of the lottery and charitable bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Temporary Restraining Order against TLCDownload Randy Howry, the lottery winner's attorney, said he believes the restraining order will also apply to the TDLR if the Governor signs the bill into law. The restraining order has a limited lifespan. In this case it will only last three days because there is an evidentiary hearing on June 5 for a temporary injunction. A temporary injunction would protect those funds until a trial can happen. Howry and his client are worried the February lottery winnings could be spent on other winners or pay for other costs within the commission as it faces extinction. 'We're doing everything we can to protect these funds,' Howry explained. The Texas woman won the Feb. 17 lottery drawing worth $83.5 million. The woman purchased $20 worth of tickets on the Jackpocket app, a service that allows players to buy tickets over the phone. Those services are known as lottery couriers and they have become the target of lawmakers this session who believe they are against the laws written in the state and believe the lottery commission acted beyond its means to allow couriers to operate in Texas. Some lottery courier services were involved in helping a single entity, known as Rook TX, purchase and print more than $25 million worth of tickets in a 72-hour time span in April of 2023. That number of tickets nearly guaranteed the entity would have the winning ticket for a $95 million jackpot. This session lawmakers have questioned the TLC and its commissioners about how something like that could happen. Lawsuits have been filed against those courier services and the former executive director of the commission. In February, a week after the Texas woman won the jackpot, the TLC said it was banning lottery courier services and the Governor directed the Texas Rangers to investigate those two wins. Howry said he and his client were told by the commission they could not be paid out while the Rangers investigated. However, Howry says he and his client have not been questioned by any agency regarding the February drawing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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
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!
