State senate approves bill to abolish Texas Lottery Commission
The bill now moves to the Texas House.
US.- The Texas Senate has approved Senate Bill 3070, which aims to abolish the Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) following controversy over jackpot wins. The legislation passed with a 31-0 vote and will now pass to the Texas House.
The proposed legislation proposes that the Texas Lotto game be managed by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). Ticket sales would be limited to 100 in a single transaction, in person during regular store hours.
The move is intended to address concerns around accountability and transparency. There had been calls for Texas Lotto to be abolished completely, but a decision on this has been put back to August 2027 pending a review.
The Texas Lottery Commission banned lottery ticket couriers on April 29 amid controversy over a $83m jackpot win.
In a video on his Twitter account, lieutenant governor Dan Patrick said: “You remember back in February when I went into this place called Winners Corners, when someone won an $83m jackpot in a courier service, and they wouldn’t let me in the back room to even take a look at what was going on? Well, that began this saga of really discovering the alleged corruption in the Lottery Commission.”
He also noted another controversy involving a courier in 2023 when one person bought 26m $1 tickets and won a $95m jackpot. He said: “I promised you that if we couldn’t guarantee the lottery commission was an operation that you could trust, we would eliminate it, and that’s what we did.
“We passed Senate Bill 3070 by Bob Hall, who was one of the first to really uncover the corruption at the Lottery Commission, and the Lottery Commission will be no more. We’re going to give the extension to the game for two years to the TDLR. They will oversee it with a brand new leadership team and new guardrails.”
Yesterday, the Texas Senate abolished the Texas Lottery Commission, moving the state lottery to @TDLRlicense for a 2-year trial period with new strict guidelines and laws. #txlege pic.twitter.com/VA94hBI6Ui
— Office of the Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (@LtGovTX) May 16, 2025
