Update: Lottery commission extended another 12 years

An effort by the state House to find a compromise on a bill to keep the Texas Lottery Commission up and running just suffered a setback. 

The House is currently mulling at least two amendments for House Bill 2197 that seem to be the thrust of a potential deal between House Democrats and Republicans to keep the commission operating (for yesterday’s coverage, click here). 

But one of the key amendments in the compromise package just failed on a 94-50 vote (an amendment on third reading needs a two-thirds vote from members present on the floor to pass; the House just spent roughly 10 minutes calling each lawmaker individually by name to verify who is present on the House floor and how they voted). 

That amendment by Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, would have allowed the Texas Lottery Commission to continue operating for four years — instead of the 12 years originally proposed in HB 2197. 

Under the amendment, the commission would have been abolished in 2017 unless the Legislature acts.  The Smithee amendment also allows for bingo operations to continue in the case that the lotto commission is done away with in the future. 

House members seemed to think the four-year sunset period was the most “rational and logical” approach because it gave the Legislature enough time to figure out how to plug budget holes if they decide in the future to abolish the lottery commission. 

The plan was to couple the Smithee amendment with one offered by San Antonio Democrat Mike Villarreal that would create a joint committee to evaluate alternative revenue to replace lotto commission bucks that help fund public education.  The joint committee would conduct an interim study. 

House lawmakers like the Villarreal amendment because it puts the Legislature on a path to dive deeper into the issue of using lotto revenue to fund public education — and potentially into the realm of dissolving the commission altogether.  The Villarreal amendment was adopted unanimously. 

House floor debate is continuing now. 

UPDATE:

The state House gave final approval to a bill Wednesday to allow the Texas Lottery Commission to continue operating for the next 12 years. 

After nearly two hours of debate, House Bill 2197 passed on a 88-54 vote. 

The bill was passed with an amendment from San Antonio Democrat Mike Villarreall that sets up a joint committee to conduct an interim study to evaluate alternative revenue to replace lotto commission bucks that help fund public education.