Texas Officially Abolishes Lottery Commission

Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 3070 on June 20, abolishing the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) effective Sept. 1.

SB 3070 transfers oversight of the Texas Lottery and Charitable Bingo to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) and a new lottery advisory committee.

The new law also bans lottery ticket courier companies, limits the sale of lottery tickets to a single individual to no more than 100 tickets, requires TDLR’s executive director to maintain a security office and mandates an annual state audit of the lottery program.

TLC had been under review by the Sunset Advisory Commission prior to its abolition. Its recommendations for the now-defunct agency will apply to TDLR once functions have been transferred.

Last year, the Sunset Staff Report on TLC recommended the agency undergo numerous improvements, including moving Charitable Bingo operations from paper-based to digital, improving data validation practices and strengthening bingo regulation due to fraud potential.

The Texas Lottery had received criticism from lawmakers for allowing app-assisted purchases of lottery tickets, particularly in the cases of two jackpots won in 2023, the first by a woman who bought the winning ticket worth $83.5 million via an online lottery courier and another by a group that purchased 99 percent of all 25.8 million possible number combinations to win a jackpot worth $95 million. Under the new law, the facilitation of play via telephone, Internet or mobile applications is prohibited.

The Legislative Budget Board predicts the agency’s abolition will have a negative impact of $126 million through the biennium.