HB 839

relating to a limitation on the percentage of state lottery money
paid as prizes to winning ticket holders.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1.  Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
(b)  Money in the state lottery account may be used only for
the following purposes and shall be distributed as follows:
(1)  the payment of prizes to the holders of winning
tickets, provided the payment of prizes in a fiscal biennium may not
exceed an amount equal to 40 percent of the gross revenue accruing
from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
(2)  the payment of costs incurred in the operation and
administration of the lottery, including any fees received by a
lottery operator, provided that the costs incurred in a fiscal
biennium may not exceed an amount equal to 12 percent of the gross
revenue accruing from the sale of tickets in that biennium;
(3)  the establishment of a pooled bond fund, lottery
prize reserve fund, unclaimed prize fund, and prize payment
(4)  the balance, after creation of a reserve
sufficient to pay the amounts needed or estimated to be needed under
Subdivisions (1) through (3), to be transferred on or before the
15th day of each month as follows:
(A)  the portion of the balance attributable to
the lottery game operated under Section 466.027 to the fund for
veterans' assistance established by Section 434.017; and
(B)  the remainder to the foundation school fund.
SECTION 2.  Section 466.355, Government Code, as amended by
this Act, applies beginning with the state fiscal biennium
SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.