SB3070

Buying and selling tickets. Purchases must be made in person at a licensed sales agency during normal business hours. Buying or ordering by telephone, an internet application or a mobile application—and facilitating that play for compensation—is a Class A misdemeanor. Selling more than 100 tickets to one individual in a single transaction is a Class B misdemeanor; this is a seller restriction, not a daily purchase allowance. Sales agents or their employees must use the commission-prescribed age-verification process at each sale, with a separate Class B penalty for violating that requirement. Final law, sections 32 and 37, Government Code sections 466.255–.258 and .318.

Specified lottery insiders and certain family members sharing their household are barred from buying tickets or claiming prizes; violations become Class A misdemeanors. Separately, the act changes the under-18 sales offense’s wording from an intentional-or-knowing sale to a criminally negligent sale or offer to sell, while retaining the requirement that the seller knows the individual is under 18. A qualifying electronic-ID scan protects the sales agent from agency disciplinary action for the employee’s sale to a minor; it is not general immunity from criminal prosecution. Final law, sections 31 and 34.

Equipment at a retailer must not be disproportionate to its legitimate business. TDLR generally may not provide more than five pieces of ticket-printing equipment to a sales location, but commission rules can provide otherwise. Before paying a prize, TDLR must receive the required IRS form from the claimant and independently verify its information. Final law, sections 32 and 42.

Oversight and records. TDLR must maintain lottery records for at least one year after their last modification and may not automatically delete them earlier. Formal lottery-related commission meetings and lottery-advisory meetings must be recorded and retained for five years. The state auditor must conduct annual comprehensive lottery audits, with the first completed by August 31, 2028. A security office within TDLR can coordinate with its financial-crimes intelligence center; the law does not create the proposed special inspection powers for elected officials. Final law, sections 8, 11, 16 and 86.

A new lottery advisory committee must balance public and retail interests, include specified professional expertise, and meet publicly at least quarterly. The nine-member bingo advisory committee becomes mandatory rather than optional and must also meet at least quarterly. These committees advise; they do not replace the governing commission. The first expanded annual report and legislative recommendations are due December 1, 2026. The act also adapts lottery-specific conflicts, gifts, political-contribution and former-employment restrictions to the receiving agency. Final law, sections 51, 56–59, 66 and 84–85.

Charitable bingo. The operating-capital ceiling rises from $50,000 to $100,000 per licensed organization or unit member, but remains tied to average quarterly expenses excluding prizes, with specified exceptions and case-by-case increases. A newly added exception covers organizations closed for at least six months. This is not a grant of $100,000. Supplies can be returned to the original distributor when defective, not ordered or delivered in excess of the quantity ordered, with records kept by both sides; consenting licensed organizations may transfer card-minding devices between themselves. Risk-based audit plans must identify high-risk license holders annually and schedule completion within five years of identification. Final law, sections 70–71 and 73.

For a grandfathered commercial lessor continuously licensed since June 10, 1989, an administrative hold can last no more than ten years. If still on hold at the end, the license loses eligibility for renewal under that grandfather provision. Existing holds receive a transition limit measured from the act’s effective date. The act also repeals the one-year maximum bingo-license term; it does not itself promise every license holder a particular replacement term. Final law, sections 69, 76 and 79.

Transfer and contracts. Existing licenses continue and pending cases transfer without a change in status. Existing rules continue unless they conflict with the act or are later changed. Money, property, contracts, obligations and all full-time-equivalent positions transfer to TDLR. The law required independent reviews of existing contracts to begin by December 1, 2025, and required the lottery-operations contract to be amended by September 1, 2026 to extend its term by no more than two years beyond its expiration. These are statutory requirements, not findings here that the agency met each deadline. Final law, sections 77, 81–82.

What changed during passage. The introduced and Senate committee texts have the same substantive provisions. Four adopted Senate amendments added or strengthened in-person sales, age checks, ticket limits and criminal penalties; advisory and records provisions; and auditing and other controls. The Senate engrossed and House committee texts are identical. Text versions; Senate amendment 1; 2; 3; 4.

The House adopted a replacement text, with an amendment addressing matters including bingo capital, supply returns, audits and the transition. The final version moves the proposed lottery expiration from 2027 to 2029, replaces the Senate’s longer general records rule with the one-year rule, permits an equipment-limit exception by rule, and replaces the proposed contract-renewal ban with contract review and a limited extension. A separate amendment was withdrawn; another proposing lottery abolition in September 2025 was tabled, not enacted. The Senate concurred in the House changes; there was no conference version. House replacement; Adopted change to it; Withdrawn amendment; Tabled abolition proposal; Amendment dispositions; Final law.

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Players, retailers, lottery-service companies, bingo charities and state regulators all face changes. In-person sales and anti-courier restrictions can limit access and retailer sales; age checks, records and audits add compliance work intended to strengthen integrity. The act alone does not establish that these measures prevented misconduct. Bingo organizations gain greater potential operating reserves and supply flexibility, alongside revised oversight. Final law.

The final fiscal note estimates a negative $59.35 million impact on general-revenue-related funds through August 31, 2027 for immediate effect, versus $52.46 million for a September 1 effective date. The bill received immediate effect, although most changes have September 1 applicability. These are forecasts, not recorded losses. The estimate assumes the agency transfer is cost-neutral and uses a 2.7% reduction in lottery sales associated with restrictions on courier activity; the note also recognizes that some players would continue buying at brick-and-mortar retailers. The bill itself makes no appropriation. Final fiscal note; Final law, sections 87–88.

The note’s much larger fiscal-2030 estimate—about $1.752 billion less for the Foundation School Fund and $22.9 million less for veterans assistance—depends on the lottery actually ending in 2029. Continued authorization would change that scenario. New misdemeanor enforcement may affect state and local courts and corrections, but demand and costs cannot be determined from the note. Some narrative in the note still describes superseded proposals, including a Class C online-purchase offense and elected-official inspections; the enacted law controls, and the purchase offense is Class A. Final fiscal estimates and limitations; Final law, sections 4 and 37.