House approves amendment that zeros out lottery funding
By Kate Northrop
In the early hours of Friday morning, the Texas House of Representatives passed a two-year $337 billion budget that would effectively eliminate all funding for the Texas Lottery.
On Friday at approximately 3:00 a.m., the Texas House approved a spending plan that excludes the Texas Lottery from budget considerations.
Lawmakers put the Texas Lottery on the chopping block when a State Representative proposed a budget amendment that eliminates all funding for the Texas Lottery Commission.
The $337 billion state budget plan was approved by a vote of 118-26 after 13 hours of debate and deliberation. It's expected to provide billions in property tax cuts, greater border security support, and increased funding for public education.
However, it also puts the future of the Texas Lottery in question. State Representative Mary González proposed an amendment during discussions that struck the operation of the Lottery, charitable bingo, and all associated strategies from the plan. The House's approval in the second hearing of the budget included this amendment.
When KETK asked State Representative Donna Howard what the intent of defunding the lottery was, she said she didn't know.
Legislators did not allude to whether defunding the Texas Lottery Commission was related to the recent controversies surrounding lottery couriers in the state. Instead, it may have been a political move from the House Democrats to deny Republican counterparts from directing those funds elsewhere, the Texas Tribune theorized.
Before the Texas Lottery's defunding becomes official, the measure must progress through several more steps in the legislative process. First, the House must vote again after a third hearing to approve the budget with the lottery defunding amendment intact, but given the overwhelming vote of 118-26, the third reading may likely be just a formality with little doubt about the outcome.
Then, the Senate and House versions of the budget would need to be reconciled in conference committee negotiations. It is here that the Lottery's fate would majorly be decided.
"We will determine in our negotiations with the Senate how that turns out," State Representative Greg Bonnen replied when State Representative Andy Hopper asked if the Texas Lottery Commission will remain defunded with González's amendment intact at the beginning of the budget debate.
After the conference committee agrees on the final budget, if the lottery defunding provision is still intact, it would next need to be approved by both chambers.
The last step is for Governor Greg Abbott to sign the budget. However, the Governor has the authority to veto specific line items in appropriation bills like budget plans. In other words, if a budget plan defunding the lottery hypothetically made it to his desk, he could strike that provision and effectively restore the funding.
There is still another way the Lottery could shut down. The Texas Lottery must undergo a Sunset Review to determine whether the agency should continue its operations. If state legislature does not approve a Sunset bill by the end of the legislative session, the agency would no longer exist.
Am I understanding this correctly.. in two more years, there will be no more lottery in Texas
When Texas politicians started doing the Texas 2 step with their responsibilities, you should already know that nothing positive is going to come out of it for their constituents. Politicians SMH.
politicians will make more money with the casino's now.
<person> will have to relocate to a new state. (are we allowed to say her name here?)
i wonder if the texas government can work out a compromise where just the multistate games are still allowed to operate.
I would not mention that attention-seeking fraud's name here.
Texas Lottery website:
So where does Texas make up the difference for school funding if the Texas Lottery goes away? Texas Veterans
Supporting Texas Education & Veterans
Since 1992, the Texas Lottery has generated more than $40 billion in revenue for good causes in the state of Texas, including education, veterans' services and other important state programs. Through strict adherence to our vision, mission and core values, the Texas Lottery is dedicated to ensuring that these benefits continue. The chart below provides a breakdown of an average dollar spent on lottery games and illustrates "Where the Money Goes", based on FY 2024 financial results.
The Texas Lottery Supports Texas Education. Since 1997*, the Texas Lottery has contributed $34.7 billion to the Foundation School Fund, which supports public education in Texas. In FY 2024, the Texas Lottery transferred $1.98 billion to the Foundation School Fund.
The Texas Lottery Supports Texas Veterans. In 2009, legislation was passed directing the Texas Lottery to offer a scratch ticket game benefiting the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans' Assistance (FVA). Since that time, the Texas Lottery has contributed more than $267 million for veterans programs. The FVA makes grants available to eligible charitable organizations, local government agencies, and Veterans Service Organizations that provide direct services to Texas veterans and their families. More than 90 percent of the revenue contributed to the fund is derived from the sales of the Texas Lottery veterans' games. The first game was introduced in FY 2010 and since that time, additional games have been launched with the proceeds supporting the fund. In FY 2024 $26.8 million was transferred to the Texas Veterans Commission.
The Texas Lottery Supports Other State Programs. As authorized by the Texas Legislature, other Texas Lottery funds, such as unclaimed prizes, contribute to other causes and programs.
They tried this in NM and failed. Hopefully it doesn't pass.
Please do not kill me, kindly understand my ignorance.
Based on how often I loose, the lottery to me seems to be a profit making institution.
It's because of that, that they are able to do all the "good work" that they do.
They wouldn't do that if they entirely made losses.
The lottery takes some % of the sales for administrative purposes.
So then my question is, why would any lottery need State funding when the lottery itself is supporting the State to do some of the work?
I don't understand that part.
Thank you in advance for your polite response ☺️
Who penned this uninformative article?? Nowhere does it say what the actual funding amount for the Texas lottery is???
They probably won't.
If the Texas Lottery Commission gets no operating budget, then they should shut down lottery operations and watch the heat rise on the crummy politicians. Operating budget will be restored in short order.
Looking more and more like I'll be making the drive up I-35 to OK.
Lucky most everyone knows who you are talking about. If it were a Wheel of Fortune puzzle people would be burning effigies of you in boxers!
As I mentioned in the other thread the Sunset Review had already raised questions about the direction the lottery was going prior to this mess.
Senator Bob Hall was quoted earlier this year saying, "We'll zero out the budget."
I can see it happening. This item is making international news and everybody in state government appears out of touch with what was happening.
Defending would be their way of promising the voters, "if we can't have a fair and honest game, then we'll have no game at all."
l wonder if all State lotteries are funded by the respective States. To my knowledge the CA lottery receives no funds, yet it survives. Can the Texas lottery survive without State funding?
in retrospect i should have said rhymes with "fawn kettles."
i agree with justmaybe that a lottery should be able to support itself without state funding. any state lottery that needs additional funding from the state must not be running as efficiently as it could be.
In FY24, the Texas Lottery transfered 1.98B to the Foundation School Fund and 26.8M to the Texas Veterans Commission.
How does an entity that transfers 1.98 Billion of it's sales to education need support?
If for instance the State allocates 300M to run the Lottery, my simple logic is that the lottery should deduct the 300M from it's school funds and the State would spend that 300M on education.
Otherwise it feels like just money changing hands. From the lottery to the schools and from the State to the lottery.
What this model does is it shows that the Lottery is doing way more in public support than they are actually doing.
The more relevant question is "What is the cost of running the lottery?" Then after we remove those costs from the sales, how much is going to public support work?
They are doing a dodge to the lottery. Like with the national scene I smell a skunk !!
Thats ok RCB, send me your funds, I can even get you some Lotto America tickets to replace your TX lottery. Odds are almost identical.
That's a really good question! Thank you for raising it so politely :)
You're right in that the Lottery technically doesn't need funding from the state's general revenue to operate in a traditional sense. Rather, it's a state agency that requires appropriation authority to spend the money it generates from ticket sales.
So when there are talks of "defunding," it basically means that the Lottery would no longer have the authority to spend the money it collects. In other words, it wouldn't be able to pay administrative costs (salaries), marketing expenses, vendor payments (ticket printing, gaming systems), prize payouts, and retailer commissions. As a state agency, it still needs legislative authorization to spend money it needs to operate, and "defunding" it would essentially just dissolve it.
Oh my goodness, now I get it.
Thanks Kate for being gracious in the response.
Never say never, but with that explanation of what "defunding" means, I highly doubt that would happen.
Wishing all Texas players a good outcome.
In the meantime I need to win me some jackpot 🤣
A picture is worth a thousand words.
It's stupidity like this that makes the Texas government suck so bad.
"When KETK asked State Representative Donna Howard what the intent of defunding the lottery was, she said she didn't know."
About sums it up nicely.
rcbbyuuckeye,
No need to do that, why not be 'the house' and book action on 'policy'?
True gamblers will always find action somehow.
As the saying goes., let them pick their own losers!
That's what the lotterties are doing!
I think that the factor that players are in the games as equals, is no longer sustainable as a higher theme or anthem as a result of the recent controversies surrounding the Texas lottery, Currier services and professional gambling establishments and the profits made by the lottery is now inferior to the greater more honorable act of honest services to the people by the lottery.
The lottery after all is a product of legislation designed to benefit the people with complete undiminished fairness, and the lawmakers who empowered the lottery must remain on the watch that the fairness factor is not degraded and/or defeated and I believe that the legislature is moving in the direction to curb a proven verified threat to the integrity of the lottery by what appears to be previously unanticipated forces of professional gamblers.
Personally I would be un-inclined to play a game that I know can be beaten with the power of a very large purse like $26 million and there are probably many that feel the same.
So, at the end of the day, the integrity of the lottery, honest services to the people, equal protection of the rules of the games remain superior to the profits that can be realized by tolerance of biased games.
Thx, it's only about a 30 drive. Years ago before TX had PB I would drive up there to get PB tix when the jackpot got big. Might even hit Winstar at the same time.
Another option is to drive I-10 or I-20 to Louisiana. We have Powerball and MegaMillions among other games. Check out our casinos as well!
The LA Tourism board should consider rewarding you for promoting Tourism to the Pelican State.