Gary Grief Wants to Expand the Texas Lottery, But Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Do Not.
Gary Grief, the Texas Lottery Commission’s executive director, has been in contact with Delaware lottery officials to learn how their local industry works. Mr. Grief is seeking to expand the lottery in Texas, against opposition from a number of top Texas lawmakers.
In the past month, Gary Grief led an group of Texas lottery officials on a tour of Delaware, to see how their industry works. On October 8, Gary Grief sent a letter to his counterpart, Vernon Kirk, who serves as the director of the Delaware Lottery.
Gary Grief’s Letter
In the letter, the Texas Lottery Commission head wrote to Vernon Kirk saying, “We were particularly interested to learn about your sports betting, Internet wagering and casino games.”
In Delaware, gamblers can go to one of about 80 vending locations to engage in a “sports lottery“, which is a form of sports betting allowed in Montana, Oregon, and Delaware under the 1992 PASPA law. They also
The lottery official said that the information he was asking to receive would “be very helpful as our state begins to consider other forms of lottery games in the future.”
Statement from Grief’s Office
When Gary Grief was asked to comment on the contents of the letter, which were released in The News Observer last week, he declined to comment. Instead, spokeswoman Kelly Cripe said the Texas State Lottery Commission was “always considering new lottery games.”
She added that the letter specifically referred to traditional lottery games and scratch tickets. Illinois, Minnesota, and Georgia allow online lottery sales, but that number is expected to grow in the coming years.
At present, Texas only allows a state lottery drawing each week, as well as scratch-off tickets. The state also signed onto the interstate lottery associations, Powerball and Mega Millions. Venues across the Lone Star State sell lotto tickets for all three weekly drawings, so people can play the lotto most nights of the week.
Texas Lottery Commission Pushes for Online Sales
The Texas Lottery Commission is known to favor online lottery sales, though the chief officials in Texas are against any such expansion of lottery betting in the state.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has come out against Internet gambling, which is offered by the Delaware Lottery. John Wittman, a spokesman for Gov. Abbott, said the governor “supports current state law and does not support the expansion of gambling.”
Dan Patrick Opposes Lotto Expansion
The top lawmaker takes the same stance. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a written statement to the Texas press, “Our state constitution narrowly defines legal gambling in Texas. I expect the Lottery Commission to leave it to the Legislature before expanding.”
Lt. Gov. Patrick’s opinion is the pivotal one. In Texas, the lieutenant governor is considered to be the most powerful elected official, not at all like the “vice presidential role” many lieutenant governors hold. Instead, the Lieutenant Governor is the president of the Texas Senate and controls the budgeting process, because he or she controls the Legislative Budget Board. Consequently, the governor’s position of Texas is less powerful than in most states, mainly because the 1876 Constitution was put in place by a Post-Reconstruction government which wanted to limit executive power, if ever another occupation took place.
With the two most powerful men in Texas against online lottery sales, it is hard to see how the Lottery Commission could succeed in passing such a bill. It is settled that no lotto bill will be passed in the 2015 legislative session.
Anti-Gaming Laws in Texas
Texas laws remain restrictive against most forms of gambling, except for horse racing and land-based lottery sales. Casinos and poker rooms are outlawed. Texans are not as picky as their government, which is why some of the biggest casinos in the United States sit just over the border in adjacent states. The Winstar and Chocktaw casinos in Southern Oklahoma bring in most of their money from Texans living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The casinos in Bossier City and Shreveport, Louisiana can boast the same. New Orleans casinos have long enjoyed the influx from Houston-area gamblers.
Local cities in Southern and East Texas have tapped into the love of gaming, by passing laws which allowed limited 8-liner gaming, if they don’t pay out cash. Unfortunately, businesses are too often tempted to pay with money instead of prizes, which ends with a raid and a prison sentence.
