Well, that was interesting...
The Texas House reversed itself Tuesday and tentatively passed a bill that allows the Texas Lottery Commission to continue operating for another 12 years.
House Bill 2197 by state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, passed 92-53.
The vote ended a day of drama in the House that started when lawmakers earlier voted to abolish the lottery commission. The House abruptly broke for lunch after the vote to end the commission, allowing House leaders the time to muster enough support to bring the bill back up to be reconsidered.
The bill still needs to clear a final vote in the House.
In a move that stunned the chamber just before it adjourned for lunch, the House voted 85-61 against a bill that would have continued the Lottery Commission for 12 more years.
"The Lottery Commission is gone," State Rep. Linda Harper Brown, R-Irving, said from the dais.
House Bill 2197 by state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, was supposed to be a routine sunset measure to allow the commission to continue operating. The bill also expanded and increased the size of the commission from three members to five.
Instead, Democrats and Republicans voiced opposition on moral grounds and voted to kill the commission.
"There were more members than I thought who were against the lottery," Anchia told reporters after the vote.
Some $2.2 billion in lottery sales revenues go toward the Foundation School Fund and another $26 million goes toward veterans, Anchia said.
"There's some significant budgeting impact if the lottery is not continued," Anchia said.
The House broke abruptly for lunch after the vote, with lawmakers still wondering what had just happened. The House is schedule to reconvene at 3 p.m.
Meanwhile, Anchia said some lawmakers will be working during the lunch break to get enough support to have the vote reconsidered on the House floor.
"There's certainly high drama in the House today," Anchia said.
Minutes after the House returned from lunch, Rep. Lyle Larson, R-San Antonio, gave one hour notice of his intention to make a motion to reconsider the decision to end the Lottery Commission.
MONEY RULES THE WORLD.
I'm glad to see that my threat worked.
Who they think they messin with?
Some amateaur?
I am the Gamblin Queen and I will not be deprived of my GOD given right to toss my money at a fleeting dream.
"DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS"
more like
"DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS' LOTTERY!!"
Nice, obvious corruption. The only way someone would be set to vote one way and then come back after a few hours and change their votes is if palms were greased. Don't get me wrong, I am glad this idiotic vote was changed, but it shows what is wrong with politics today.
TEXAS ROCKS!
The newly formed lobbying group Christ for Bingo and Bouncing Balls performed marvelously.
HALLELUAH!!!
Time to start repacking my bags!
Lets celebrate!
IN GOD WE TRUST.
No No No, just another day in the Texas legislature. Meeting only parttime every other year gets some really interesting actions. There may have been palms greased, but there always is palms greased. State politics, in some ways, is worse than the Feds, and definitely more interesting.
There was a big push from the bible thumpers in East Texas to get the lottery commission dissolved with the Sunset review. They are the same ones who keep casinos out of Texas and sending hundreds of millions to Louisana, Oklahoma, and New Mexico every year. Casino tour busses are big business here.
Either way, we've got lottery until 2025 and we'll do this again in the next Sunset review.
Unpack those bags. You have to swear an oath of alligence to G H Bush, G W Bush, and soon G P Bush if you want to move here from NYC or any other New England area. You have to swear your love for Texas and all things Texan. You have to swear to the conservative principles of small government, probusiness, minimal regulations, and low taxes - and leave your liberal card at the border. And finally, you have to sign up to work the Christ for Bingo game every Thursday at your local Knights of Columbus (KC) Hall.
But, what was it you said?
Texas sucks. They elected George W. Bush as their governor. A lying cocaine snorting weasel, who was worshiping goats when 9/11 happened. They love fracking, oil spills and destroying the environment. They cant be that smart.
The only thing good in texas is... ________ I dont know. (you fill in the blank)
Do you really want to pack your bags and head in this direction? Negative attitudes towards Texas while in Texas will get you into some big heap of trouble. Like they say, "Don't Mess with Texas!"
Are these people voting to End The Lottery Commission- or pull out of MM/PB lottery etc? If they want to remove people from running it, that's a whole new story. I bet there are those who are injecting religion into their votes.
morons sure want to call lottery a tax
i never seen a tax where no one has to pay a penny
no one is forced to play
god forbid people use there money via freedom of choice
morals high ground people my A#$, only not moral people here, are ones thinkin they can pick and choose what we can and Cant buy
glad some of morons who voted to get rid of 2 billion in cash for state voted yes right atfer they voted no for lottery
got to love idiots getting what they want then running form results of it.
i rofl at all votes that changed, ofc they be doing a act of suicide,and they KNOW IT, why leadership was telling them vote Yes 2nd time u morons.
as they would piss off nearly everyone who plays the lottery, and they soon be voted out in a few years when everone forced to vote and throw them out in anger of what they did while in charge of state
lottery would be back sooner or later atfer there all replaced"fired" by the people
this whole vote to stop lottery first time was a time waste and they know it.
they just showed off majority of texas leadership anti freedom"good job idiots"
then again, this fine ad for what is libertarians vs conservatives , conservatives play freedom loving card Only when it suits them, only when it fits there moral high ground, do u have right to spend money, see war on drugs, etc. cant stand them telling anyone what u can do anymore.
lottey harms no one by force, i dont care if some idiot spends all there money and goes broke playin lottery
no one forced them to, just like no one forced anyone to over dose over some drug, law makers need to learn, u don't have right to protect morons by taking away freedom of choice
I always wondered where Margaritaville was.
The really voted to abolish the Texas State Lottery meaning no more PB, MM, scratch-offs, pick-3; no more lottery.
But they can back, re-voted, and 32 changed their votes. Had it stuck, do you think Rick Perry would have veto or signed it?
I repent! I repent!
For sure. There's no way it was just because they actually gave in to common sense and decided they they'd be stupid to throw away a billion dollars of annual income.
Wish them luck trying to fire the Lawyer, CPA, Cop, and others. Their probably all related.
you would make a lot of money if you was in Texas
if you like dry hot weather wind blowing dirt in your eyes rattle snakes and tornadoes
then you should go.
You're definitely spot on about the money, our economy has been relatively stable compared to many of the other states and there are plenty of jobs to be found. Unless you live in Austin with all the Hipster Yuppies, cost of living is cheap!
Weather depends on what part of Texas you are in. Southeast Texas does not get that many twisters, but we get a lot of rain and a tropical cyclone every 5 to 10 years.
On topic: They need to fire the current 3 members of our lottery commision and then hire new officials that will fix our broken TX Lotto game.
The Facts:
1) 6/54 game for 1 : 25,827,126 odds.
2) Jackpot starts at $5M and only goes up by $250k when it rolls.
3) New "Extra!" option in the game, it works much like Powerplay. It's not worth the extra dollar, top prize is only $10k
4) Ticket sales are nowhere near what they used to be in the '90s.
5) Many players have asked to return to the original 6/50 matrix or to a new 6/49 one but the TLC refuses to do it.
6.) Powerball and Megamillions are far more attractive games to play for their much lower odds on their 2nd place prizes compared to the Texas Lotto jackpot.
7.) Myself and others have quit playing the game since they brought in the new Extra! feature and I have a feeling many more will too. The new game is boring and the odds don't justify playing it anymore. The game will be dead within a couple of years.
And that's just west Texas and the panhandle. Dallas is just hot dry weather with lots of twisters and rattlers. Houston, and parts east and south are hot humid with fewer twisters and a hurricane/tropical storm every now and then... and fewer rattlers, but more cotton mouths. Central Texas is hot humid and sometimes hot dry and dusty, some twisters, flash floods, and dried up rivers. And rattlers. Don't even start me on Austin - it ain't what it used to be. The kooky liberals used to keep to UT campus and Hippie Hollow. They've overrun the place and ruined it.
Nope. Don't move here. Terrible, dangerous place, and bible thumpers determined to take out the lottery.
What the hell did you expect, boner? Bush Jr. is still loved by tens of millions of Americans. He surely knew how to wave the great American wang (proverbially).
"He surely knew how to wave the great American wang"
Do you know this from up-close personal experience?
Not really. I wasn't deployed back then.
War and violence run in our blood. We are a proud warmongers. Peace has no place in this great nation. We Americans live by the sword. We rose by the guns. That's what we are. Mean will inherit the Earth. And that's the way it is. GWB surely knew how to appeal to American psyche, and that's why he is beloved by tens of millions of Americans. We are warlike people and the rest of the world should deal with it.
Abolish welfare. True American does not rely on anybody. That's the American way. You are an island and that's the rugged American individualism. Greed and the law of jungle are the driving force behind our great nation. Screw poor people. Let them rot and die on the streets while hardworking Americans help themselves. And we should spread our American objectivism to the world, no matter if they like it or not.
Abolish public education. College is the tool of liberal devil-worshippers. Education is overrated. We don't need a lot of college graduates. Maybe we can round up all the scientists and lock them up in Long Island or something, making them social untouchables. Evolution has no place in American education system. We should teach young earth creationism and spread the idea around the world. And we need to abolish the nonsense like the separation of church and state. Our Founding Fathers were the new apostles of Lord Jesus Christ. Let the Bible the center of all the thinking process. Who needs to conserve the nature? Jesus will take care of everything.
God bless America indeed. Truly.
yeah you right them winds come fast up off them Mountains to the panhandle
True American does not rely on anybody..You are an island and that's the rugged American individualism
couldn't agree more.
We are a proud warmongers. Peace has no place in this great nation. We Americans live by the sword.
now you sound like a terrorist IMHO
I'm kind weirded out how you can say 'peace has no place here' and in another sentence imply church and state being as one unit?
I thought the concept of a god,at least in any form of christianity is peace...could be wrong'cause I'm a little behind on the trends..
I hope that Texas continues to do ball drawn games.
When were you deployed and where?
And oh, I critiqued (in a way) your essay.
I agree with some of it (highlighted in blue).
And the rest of it is just plain wacky-cuckoo (highlighted in yellow).
War and violence run in our blood. We are a proud warmongers. Peace has no place in this great nation. We Americans live by the sword. We rose by the guns. That's what we are. Mean will inherit the Earth. And that's the way it is. GWB surely knew how to appeal to American psyche, and that's why he is beloved by tens of millions of Americans. We are warlike people and the rest of the world should deal with it.
Abolish welfare. True American does not rely on anybody. That's the American way. You are an island and that's the rugged American individualism. Greed and the law of jungle are the driving force behind our great nation. Screw poor people. Let them rot and die on the streets while hardworking Americans help themselves. And we should spread our American objectivism to the world, no matter if they like it or not.
Abolish public education. College is the tool of liberal devil-worshippers. Education is overrated. We don't need a lot of college graduates. Maybe we can round up all the scientists and lock them up in Long Island or something, making them social untouchables. Evolution has no place in American education system. We should teach young earth creationism and spread the idea around the world. And we need to abolish the nonsense like the separation of church and state. Our Founding Fathers were the new apostles of Lord Jesus Christ. Let the Bible the center of all the thinking process. Who needs to conserve the nature? Jesus will take care of everything.
God bless America indeed. Truly.
Abolish the taxes on lottery wins and abolish the good cause, keep the money in the circle of players and organizers.
I like that idea.
It'll never happen.
But I like it anyway.
I'm glad that they reconsider their decision. I hope this is the best for their state. If they are going to abolish lottery in the future I hope they have good alternative to get a good revenue for their state.
Isn't about 90% of what the government spends wasted on people who stand (or sit) around?