The Texas House Committee on Licensing and Administrative Procedures last week moved House Bill 817, which would expand the Texas Lottery to include keno and allow establishments with licenses to sell alcohol to participate.
As sponsor Rep. Joe Moody described it, “This is a traditional lottery game where numbers are drawn several times an hour and displayed on television monitors.”
The “Quick Draw” game is offered by lotteries in 21 states, Moody said, and added that it’s been very lucrative for their treasuries. He said Texas could collect about $300 million for schools through the games over the next five years.
“It’s revenue that we don’t see here in our state,” he told the committee before the vote: “The revenue is significant enough that it deserves our consideration this session, where we’re scrapping and trying to find every bit of funding that we can—not just for our schools, but for all of our other issues.”
The bars and restaurants that choose to participate could reap $3,000 more per week on average in increased traffic, he estimated.
A representative of the bingo industry told lawmakers that bingo halls would probably want to sign up but oppose a requirement that they obtain a liquor license.
The Texas Lottery began in May 1992, during the administration of then Governor Ann Richards. Texas has some of the strictest anti-gaming regulations in the U.S., so expanding gaming in any way is controversial. The Baptist General Convention of Texas opposes Moody’s bill, calling Quick Draw a casino game and insisting that its addition would require an amendment to the state constitution and a vote of the people.
Rob Kohler of the Baptist General Convention told lawmakers, “Members, this is keno. You know it’s keno. This is not a traditional lottery. If it was a traditional lottery game, we’d have been doing this 30 years ago.
“We talk about a few drawings an hour,” Kohler added. “But this bill allows a drawing every four minutes, over 285 drawings a day. Keno in this state is a Class III casino game, and you require a constitutional amendment.”
