House committee advances bill to save, reform Texas Lottery
DALLAS -- A House committee on Tuesday advanced legislation that preserves the embattled Texas Lottery but abolishes the commission that oversees it.
Under the bill the state would move oversight and control of the games' management to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation and a new lottery advisory committee.
The compromise bill, approved 10-4 Tuesday by the House State Affairs Committee, mollifies some lawmakers who want to end the Texas lottery. It would subject the lottery to various reforms, such as requiring retailers to have an age verification process at the point of sale. The lottery also would undergo a strict review over the next two years.
Last week the Senate approved the bill authored by Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood. It now advances to the House floor for consideration. The 140-day legislative session ends June 2.
The Lottery Commission is under its 12-year systematic evaluation and will expire Aug. 31 without reauthorization from the Legislature. The evaluation started last year with the Sunset Advisory Commission, which made recommendations on how lottery oversight could be improved.
Under the lottery's existing setup, lawmakers would have to approve legislation to extend the lottery or it will expire.
Hall's bill would make the current Sunset process moot by extending the review process, as well as mandating reforms.
Lawmakers had been concerned over whether lottery officials violated Texas law by allowing couriers to take online ticket orders to make the system more convenient for customers. Legislators said the system violated the prohibition against telephone and online sales of tickets and made it possible for minors to play the lottery.
Couriers are now banned from the ticket-buying process.
There have been other controversies.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton have ordered investigations of potential crimes related to two multimillion-dollar jackpots.
One jackpot for $95 million that was paid in April 2023 went to an overseas entity that bought over 25 million $1 tickets, giving it access to "nearly every possible number combination," Abbott said when announcing an investigation by Texas Rangers.
A second winning ticket for $83.5 million was purchased in February from an Austin lottery store connected to a courier.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the Senate's presiding officer, asked the Texas Rangers to expand the investigation to include "any and all matters related to the Lottery Commission first allowing lottery couriers into Texas and any and all possible crimes internally or externally arising from the Lottery Commission's actions or failures to act."
https://www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2025/may/24/house-committee-advances-bill-to-save-reform/