Texas Lottery Commission

Final Results of Last Sunset Review

The following material describes the results of the 2012-2013 Sunset review of the Lottery Commission.  The material includes provisions made through House Bill 2197 (83R) and the Appropriations Act (S.B. 1), as well as management directives not requiring statutory change.  For additional information see the Texas Lottery Commission Sunset Final Report with Legislative Action.

Commission Size and Responsibility

• Increases the Texas Lottery Commission from three to five public members.
• Requires the Lottery Commission to approve major contracts.

Legislative Review Committee

• Establishes a 10-member legislative committee to study both the impact of eliminating the state lottery and aspects related to the distribution of revenue for charitable bingo.

Unclaimed Lottery Prizes

• Requires unclaimed lottery prize money that is currently going to General Revenue to be deposited in the Foundation School Fund.
• Specifies that if the Legislature appropriates general revenue for the three programs currently designated to receive unclaimed lottery prize money, then all unclaimed prize money must go to the Foundation School Fund.

Contracting

• The Commission should improve collection and dissemination of information about contract sanctions, outcomes of negotiations, and contract close-out results. (management action – nonstatutory)

Business Planning

• Requires the Lottery Commission to develop a comprehensive business plan including specific evaluations of, and goals tied to, efficiency and performance.

Foreign Language Disclosures

• Requires the Lottery Commission to adopt rules requiring any scratch-off game ticket that contains a number of words in another language to include disclosures in that language.

Bingo Regulation and Funding

• Removes the fixed license amendment fee from statute, and requires the Commission to adjust fees by rule to cover the costs of processing amendments.
• Authorizes the agency to charge a fee to cover the costs of adding bingo hall workers to the Registry of Approved Bingo Workers.
• Requires the agency to use risk analysis to select licensees for bingo inspections, and put its inspection policies in rule.
• Requires the Commission to develop a goal to audit all of the highest-risk bingo licensees within a certain timeframe, and put its audit policies in rule.
• The Commission should reassess the full cost of bingo regulation and seek to adjust license fees and its legislative appropriations request accordingly. (management action – nonstatutory)

Bingo Prize Fees

• Removes bingo prize fees from the Lottery Commission’s bill pattern. (S.B. 1)

Bingo and Lottery Licensing Standards

• Requires the Commission to address felony and misdemeanor convictions in bingo regulation according to established standards in the Occupations Code.
• Requires the agency to create a standard bingo license renewal process, and removes the nonstandard provisions for two-year bingo license fees.
• Removes the statutory fee levels for bingo manufacturer and distributor licenses.
• Requires the Commission to develop procedures for the entire complaint process for both bingo and lottery, including an analysis to identify trends or issues relating to violations and provisions for reporting on and addressing the trends and issues.
• Conforms the Lottery Act and Bingo Act to the Commission’s current practice of conducting hearings through the State Office of Administrative Hearings.
• Authorizes the Commission to place suspended bingo licensees and registered workers on probation.
• Requires the Commission to amend its current bingo penalty schedule to include a full range of sanctions.
• Expands the Lottery Commission’s authority to temporarily suspend bingo licenses to prevent financial losses to the State.

Across-the-Board Recommendations and Reporting Requirements

• Updates and applies standard Sunset Across-the-Board recommendations to the Lottery Commission.
• Eliminates the Commission’s report on lottery tickets sold and prizes awarded and continues the Commission’s other reports.

Continuation

• Continues the Texas Lottery Commission for 12 years.