Ending the Texas Lottery, an audit of charitable bingo and blocking historic racing machines all are being considered in the Lone Star State.
House Speaker Joe Straus recently announced his appointments to the Legislative Committee to Review the Texas Lottery and Texas Lottery Commission. The panel will study the impact of ending the lottery and also review charitable bingo and how its revenues are distributed.
The appointees include Houston Democrat Garnet Coleman, who has accused the lottery commission of a tight relationship with the game operator and has expressed a belief that most players are poor. Other panel members are Democrat Senfronia Thompson and Republicans Rick Miller, Giovanni Capriglione and co-chair John Kuempel. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst will choose five senators for the committee. Its findings and recommendations will be due by December 1.
The committee is the result of House Bill 2197. The lottery issue came about following a review by the Sunset Advisory Commission which evaluates state agencies every 10 years. Lawmakers must approve a version of the sunset commission’s recommendations for the lottery and other state agencies to continue to exist. However, the routine sunset measure was anything but. Both Democrats and Republicans argued against the lottery and the bill at first was voted down, 81-65. But then concerns about how to replace the $2 billion-plus budget hole that would create led to a re-vote of 92-53.
The Texas Lottery is not the only gambling issue under scrutiny in Texas. The Texas Racing Commission’s public comment period on a proposal to allow historic racing machines at Texas racetracks recently ended. But in the meantime, Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn has asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to review whether the commission actually has the authority to allow the machines at the state’s tracks. The commission could vote on the issue next month.
A member of the Texas Conservative Coalition, Flynn said, “When agencies jump out and do things, often, they think no one is really watching. So they go forward with it. But when they find out that people have questions, maybe they do slow down. We felt that with issues out there, the best thing to do would be to ask the attorney general to give us an opinion. If it’s within their authority, then so be it.” Flynn said he hopes to have a ruling from Abbott by the time the legislature convenes in January.
Robert Elrod, public information officer for the racing commission, said, “We certainly respect Rep. Flynn’s beliefs and we look forward to any opinion the attorney general may have to offer. For now, we will keep evaluating the industry’s proposed rules” and review the public comments.
In May, the commission received a petition from members of the Texas horseracing industry asking for rule changes to allow the historic race machines. The games are legal in Kentucky, where more than $30 million was wagered on the machines in May alone at just two tracks.
Supporters of historic racing machines, which replay races that have already been held without identifying horses, dates or tracks, said the games will help struggling Texas racetracks compete with out-of-state racinos. In addition, they said veterinarians, farriers, feed suppliers, farmers and others would benefit from the games’ revenues.
Opponents said the machines resemble slots and would introduce casino-style gambling to the state. In a letter to the commission, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas wrote, “The proposed rules would dramatically and illegally expand gambling in the state of Texas by authorizing slot machine gaming at state-licensed horse and greyhound tracks.”
Commission officials said they believe a rule change to allow instant gaming would not be an expansion of gambling. Phillip Oldham, an attorney for Sam Houston Race Park, said, “At the end of the day, the racing commission is the state expert on racing and parimutuel wagering, and after looking at the issue for several months, they think these rules are within their authority. Texas needs to embrace this technological advancement in wagering to remain competitive.”
