Texas Senate Axes Lottery Commission with Unanimous Vote

A Big Shake-Up for Texas Lottery

The Texas Senate passed Senate Bill 3070, which wipes out the Texas Lottery Commission and hands lottery oversight to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

Authored by Sen. Bob Hall, the bill, passed on May 15, 2025, sets a two-year trial run for the lottery, with a Sunset Advisory Commission review by August 2027 to decide its fate, per Texas Tribune.

“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, calling it a fallback from his push to end the lottery entirely.

The vote comes amid a firestorm of scandals, with Hall accusing the Lottery Commission of “criminal activities taking place that came from within the commission itself,”.

A $95 million jackpot in April 2023, won by a group buying 99% of ticket combinations, sparked outrage, with Hall labeling it a “violation of state law,”.

An $83.5 million win via a courier service fueled more distrust, with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick probing a retailer and calling it “one of the biggest heists ever,”.

Courier services, letting folks buy tickets online, dodged 1991 laws banning phone sales, per Hall, who claimed the Commission “consistently lied” about lacking regulatory power. “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,” Hall said, pointing to internal corruption.

What SB 3070 Changes

SB 3070 rolls out strict rules to clean up the game. It bans online ticket sales and courier services, making them Class A misdemeanors, and caps purchases at 100 tickets per transaction, with violations as Class B misdemeanors.

Retailers are limited to five ticket-printing terminals, and lottery staff or their families can’t buy tickets. The bill sets up a Lottery Advisory Committee and requires TDLR to submit annual transparency reports, with state audits mandated.

Top officials, including the governor and Patrick, get inspection powers. “It authorizes the governor, myself, and the attorney general, and the speaker as inspectors,” Patrick said, vowing to “drop in and go anywhere I want to make sure everything is on the up and up.” The Senate added four amendments, tightening purchase rules and boosting audits.

The lottery’s a cash cow, pumping $229.4 million from couriers alone in 2024, but SB 3070 could cost $52 million over two years by banning them.

Schools and veterans rely on the $2 billion yearly haul, but Chandra Villanueva of Every Texan argued, “If we got rid of the lottery, it wouldn’t impact schools at all,” as the state would backfill from general revenue.

Critics like Rep. Josey Garcia pushed for accountability, saying, “If we know that there’s potential mishandling, then there needs to be a full review and you need to rehire.” Courier bans sparked pushback, with Lotto.com’s Rob Porter claiming, “Regulated lottery couriers support integrity and support the operations and continued growth of the Texas Lottery,”.

House Hurdles Ahead

SB 3070 now faces the Texas House, where it needs committee approval by May 23, 2025, before the June 2 session end. The House has already cut the Lottery Commission’s budget, signaling skepticism.

Patrick called it a “two-year lease on life,” but Hall warned, “We can ban it in two years if the TDLR does not operate it as we instruct them to.”

Rep. John Bucy III slammed the Commission’s unilateral moves, saying, “Decisions that impact education funding and consumer choice should be made by the Legislature, not unelected regulators.” If the House balks, the lottery could die without a sunset bill.