AUSTIN (Nexstar) – Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been a critic of the Texas Lottery Commission, told Nexstar this week the Texas Lottery is “on life support right now,” but seems confident that even if the lottery stays in Texas, there will not be a Lottery Commission.
“If we have a lottery game, we need to close down the Lottery Commission and turn it over to our department of Texas licensing, TDLR,” Patrick said.
Patrick became a vocal critic of the lottery after reports of unusual activity surrounding a Lott Texas jackpot in April 2023. A company named Rook TX was able to secure a $95 million jackpot by buying nearly every possible number combination. Greg Potts, the Chief Operating Officer at Lottery.com — a financially-troubled lottery courier service who helped execute the mass ticket purchase — said former Lottery Commission Director Gary Grief and the TLC allowed the purchase to happen.
At a hearing in February, senators asked about the Lottery Commission’s role in helping Rook TX purchase and process the large number of tickets in roughly 72 hours. Some senators raised concerns that the move opened the door for criminal activity, saying the mass ticket purchases were potentially a way to launder money.
Patrick believes the commission ignored signs of potential criminal activity.
“Someone came in and said, we have someone who wants to buy 26-million one-dollar tickets, 72 hours before the $95 million jackpot. Wouldn’t that make you at least suspicious, and wouldn’t it really make you say, ‘No, we’re not doing that?’ Patrick said.
“They let it happen. The people were fleeced. The money was stolen. Bigger than all the train robberies in the history of the Wild West, $95 million Jesse James couldn’t have done any better,” Patrick added.
“The Lottery Commission needs to go away and we need to have a different government agency with serious people who are going to ensure that this never ever, ever happens again,” Patrick said.
On Tuesday, the Texas Lottery Commission unanimously approved new rules that will revoke the license of any retailer who operates, or works with, a lottery courier service, which allows people to purchase lottery tickets online.
The vote comes more than two months after the former executive director, Ryan Mindell, issued a policy statement saying lottery courier services are not legal in the state. The commission proposed the rule change in March.
The vote happened during a public meeting, the first since Mindell resigned from his position. Before the vote, Commissioner Mark A. Franz said he originally opposed the rule change because he felt the commission had made sufficient changes to prevent another bulk purchasing event, when a single group purchased more than $25 million worth of tickets to nearly guarantee a $95 million jackpot in April 2023.
He originally wanted to wait and see what action the Texas legislature takes, however, Franz said he changed his mind after “weighing the evidence” over the past month. “I am persuaded that this is the right move going forward and that we should do the maximum amount allowable under our current statute, which is what this does,” Franz said.
The Coalition of Texas Lottery Couriers released a statement Tuesday following the vote saying the action taken by the TLC undermines the agency’s accountability. “Lottery couriers legally operated for years with the cooperation and assistance of the TLC. Although the agency repeatedly testified that it had no regulatory authority over couriers, in response to political pressure, the TLC chose to abruptly change course and eliminate businesses, jobs, state revenue and a service millions of Texans use to order lottery tickets,” the release said.
The meeting agenda also showed there was going to be a report from Mindell about the Feb. 17, 2025, Lotto Texas jackpot win, where a Texas woman purchased $20 of tickets over her phone and won an $83.5 million jackpot.
The winning ticket was printed at Winners Corner, a retail store in Austin operated by Jackpocket, a courier service. The Texas Rangers are now investigating that win, and the woman who won the jackpot tells Nexstar she has been advised by the lottery commission that she will not see any money until after the investigation ends, and even then, she may not be paid.
The commission decided to table the report since it was prepared by an executive director who is no longer with the Texas Lottery.
Sergio Rey, the CFO of the Texas Lottery, is the acting executive director. Commissioners went into executive session to discuss personnel matters as the fate of the Texas lottery is up in the air.
Kennedy pushes looking beyond vaccines in fighting Texas measles outbreak
Data released Friday by the Texas Department of State Health Services shows 20 additional cases of measles linked to an outbreak in Texas. The total number of cases now stands at 683. Most of the cases are in Gaines County, southwest of Lubbock, where 396 cases have been reported.
The state report also listed 14 other cases of measles in Texas that are not linked to the outbreak. Those include two cases in Travis County, and four in Harris County.
The report comes a few days after U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy visited Texas. Kennedy told an audience in College Station that he believes measles cases in the state have plateaued.
Kennedy has previously raised questions about the safety of vaccines, sometimes citing incorrect or misleading information. At Tuesday’s news conference in College Station, Kennedy said it’s important to look beyond vaccines in the fight against measles.
“There’s certain people, and particularly in this state, who don’t want to vaccinate. We have to take care of those people too,” Kennedy said. He added, “CDC has been focused for many, many years, for generations now, just on one solution, which is vaccines. We need to be able to treat people who get sick.”
“We’re working very closely with the governor of Texas, with the public health officials in Texas provided them enormous support from CDC, all the support that they’ve requested, for vaccines and for alternative medicines, for budesonide,” Kennedy said. Budesonide is used to treat inflammatory diseases like asthma and Crohn’s disease. “These are not fringe medications. These are medications that sick people should get,” Kennedy said.
Health experts continue to emphasize that being vaccinated is the most effective way to prevent contracting measles.
“Those who are unvaccinated face severe symptoms that could lead to hospitalization and even death,” Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said at a news conference in Austin. “Being vaccinated doesn’t just protect yourself. It protects your friends, community and family, especially those who are immunocompromised,” Walkes added.
According to the report from the Department of State Health Services, one percent, or fewer than 10 of the confirmed cases linked to the outbreak are estimated to be actively infectious. There have been two fatalities in school-aged children who lived in the outbreak area. The children were not vaccinated and had no known underlying conditions.
Border Sheriffs optimistic as encounters drop 94% in Trump’s first two months
According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP), border agents has 11,709 “encounters” in February and 11,017 in March. Encounters refers to the amount of people not lawfully in the country that USCBP apprehended or those who have turned themselves into a port of entry and are deemed “inadmissible.”
From October 2021 to December 2024, the Biden administration had 186,825 encounters per month, 94% more than the 11,363 average in Trump’s first two months back in office.
“We’re just in the first 100 days, so we’ve got a lot of wait-and-see,” Retired Sheriff Clint McDonald said. McDonald used to work directly on the border and has 42 years of law enforcement experience. He now serves as the Executive Director of both the Southwest Border Sheriff’s Coalition (SWBSC) and the Texas Border Sheriff’s Coalition (TBSC). “The immigration problem will not be fixed overnight. It’s never been worked on. Every administration has kicked it on down the road to let somebody else worry about. It’s going to take both houses of Congress and the White House to fix the immigration problem.”
This week in Austin, the SWBSC is having their bi-annual meeting. This year, the topic of conversation is how everything is evolving rapidly.
“Once Trump took office, the numbers dropped drastically,” Zavala County Sheriff Eusevio Salinas Jr. said. “Now, you actually see border patrol working the fields out looking for people. Back then you couldn’t get a border patrol agent to help you, because they were always in the processing center. It is night and day.”
As the amount of people attempting to cross the border appears to dwindle, Salinas Jr. expressed concerns about a potential cut-back in forces. Last month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the closing of an Operation Lone Star booking facility in Jim Hogg County. Salinas Jr. hopes the similar facilities he relies on get shut down.
“You still have the aftermath from this… all the arrests for human smuggling, those cases haven’t come to court yet,” he said. “I have 48 inmates at a processing center for the Val Verde center, and we’ve been told that it might close. If it does close, it’s going to put my county in a real bind because of the fact that I’m very limited on bed spaces. I would have to find a county that would take those inmates at local tax dollars cost — not the state, not the federal government.”
Adding to his concern is bills within the Texas legislature to require longer stays in jail. Specifically, Senate Joint Resolution 1 would remove the option of bond for people accused of a felony if they’re in the country illegally.
“If we had the bed space available, it would be beneficial. But since we don’t have the bed space, where are we going to put these individuals? My county only provides 66 beds for the county,” Salinas Jr. said. “Currently, I have about 58 local inmates in my county jail. So that means that on a given day, if I catch 10 individuals that are illegally into this country, where am I going to house those individuals, and for how long of a period?”
“We met with the governor before,” Salinas Jr. said. “He said that the processing center would not be closed. We need these operations.”
On Tuesday morning, the SWBSC members heard from Abbott, who vowed to continue financial support for border security efforts. He also spoke to sheriffs about bail reform, which he declared an emergency item this legislative session.
“To be clear, this is not a right or left issue. This is a common sense public safety issue,” Abbott told the sheriffs.
Abbott told the sheriffs three things need to happen to fix what he calls a broken bail system.
“Judges must automatically deny bail for violent crimes like murder, rape and human trafficking, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the defendant will appear in court and not endanger the community,” Abbott said. He also said judges who release violent criminals on bail must explain their decision to the public in writing. Abbott also called for giving prosecutors a right to appeal a judge’s bond or bail decision.
The Governor noted that the bail reform proposals would require voter approval of an amendment to the Texas Constitution. Bail reform legislation passed in the Senate with bipartisan support, and could reach the House floor as soon as next week. Some House Democrats have raised concerns about the legality of denying bail for people accused of crimes.
Clarity on abortion exceptions, more enforcement on abortion pills pass Texas Senate
The Texas Senate passed multiple pieces of legislation this week that would give reproductive care providers more clarity for when a doctor can legally perform an abortion to save a mother’s life, and also legislation that would allow Texas residents to sue abortion pill manufacturers and anyone who delivers to product to the state.
State Sen. Bryan Hughes, R – Mineola, authored Senate Bill 31. It passed the Texas Senate with unanimous support. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said after the passage the bill, “clarifies current law to provide guidance to physicians when they treat a pregnant woman who is at risk of death or substantial impairment of a major bodily function by clearly defining “life-threating.”
The bill defines the medical emergencies where doctors can intervene to save the mother’s life. It also provides exceptions for pregnant women going through cancer treatment.
Although gaining support from Senate Democrats, State Sen. Molly Cook, D – Houston, said the bill helps a lot, but more needs to be done for reproductive health in the state. “There’s still no exceptions for instances of rape, or incest, or fetal anomalies, and it of course does nothing for people who just want to be in charge and have the choice,” Cook said.
Moments after passing SB 31, senators debated another bill from Hughes, SB 2880. It expands enforcement on abortion-inducing medications by allowing Texans to sue anyone who mails or delivers abortion pills to Texas, including the companies that manufacture the product, for $100,000.
“Women are being harmed. Women are being hurt by these pills,” Hughes said when laying out his bill on the Senate floor. He referenced a recent study conducted by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, a faith-based policy institute. The study analyzed, “health insurance claims database that includes 865,727 prescribed mifepristone abortions from 2017 to 2023.”
Of those abortions, the study found 10.93% of the women experienced a “life-threatening adverse event.” But, other studies have shown success from the pills. One study found in a one- year period, of the 2,268 women who used the drug, 98.4% were satisfied with the experience.
Texas has already tried to enforce civil penalties on a New York-based doctor. Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the doctor, saying she mailed abortion-inducing medications to a Texas woman that resulted in the death of an unborn child and serious complications for the mother. A Texas judge issued a $100,000 penalty, but the doctor may not have to pay that fine.
Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California Davis, said the main question about this case is whether or not Texas courts can force judgements in New York courts. Ziegler said the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the U.S. Constitution states, “When one state’s courts reach a final decision the other state’s courts have to respect it, but that’s not true in every single circumstance.”
New York, and other states, passed “shield laws” to protect their residents from either civil or criminal consequences based on offering abortion and other reproductive healthcare. Texas will have to go to federal court to get an answer, Ziegler said.
“There’s definitely a feeling I think when it comes to abortion pills in Texas of people in the pro-life or anti-abortion movement trying a whole bunch of strategies to see what works because to date, nothing has. To date, even though Texas obviously has some of the strongest abortion bans in the nation, there hasn’t been much success in shutting down access to abortion pills,” Ziegler explained.
She said the Supreme Court is more “anxious” forcing one state to honor another state’s judgements when it involves something that either is a criminal penalty or civil law equivalent. As an example, she said if the state of California sued a Texas resident for owning a handgun because it’s against their laws, the Supreme Court would most likely not force Texas courts to comply with that judgement.
But, she did explain the Supreme Court has said it is different if a private citizen is suing another private citizen, and could be a more successful path at enforcing this anti-abortion pill bill. However, New York does have “clawback” laws that would allow a private citizen to countersue for interfering with their rights, creating an even more tricky legal issue.
“Whatever happens it’s going to be a mess,” Ziegler said.