By: Lucio III H.B. No. 2541
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to funding for apprenticeship training programs through a
lottery game.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGIS
LATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 466, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 466.0271 to read as follows:
Sec. 466.0271. APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING PROGRAM GAME. (a)
The commission shall operate an instant-ticket lottery game to
benefit apprenticeship training programs funded under Chapter 133,
Education Code.
(b) The commission shall:
(1) determine the ticket price, payout amounts, and
manner in which the game is conducted;
(2) make tickets to the game available for sale
continuously to the extent practicable; and
(3) change the design or theme of the game regularly to
ensure that the game remains competitive with other instant-ticket
lottery games offered by the commission.
(c) The commission shall market and advertise the lottery
game operated under this section in a manner intended to inform the
public that the game tickets are available for purchase and that the
game proceeds are used to fund apprenticeship training programs in
this state. The Texas Workforce Commission may make
recommendations to the Texas Lottery Commission relating to the
marketing and advertising of the game.
(d) The commission shall encourage each sales agent that
sells tickets to instant-ticket games or similar types of lottery
games to sell tickets to the game operated under this section.
(e) An organization otherwise eligible to receive money
from the state lottery account attributable to a lottery game
authorized by this section may not receive the money if the
organization conducts illegal gambling or operates illegal
gambling devices as defined by Chapter 47, Penal Code, or allows the
conduct of illegal gambling or the operation of illegal gambling
devices on its property or in its facilities.
SECTION 2. Section 466.355(b), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(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;
(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
account; and
(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 portion of the balance attributable to
the lottery game under Section 466.0271 to an account in the general
revenue fund to be appropriated to the Texas Workforce Commission
to support apprenticeship training programs in accordance with
Chapter 133, Education Code; and
(C) the remainder to the foundation school fund.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 466.355(b), Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a transfer from the state
lottery account made on or after January 1, 2018.
(b) The Texas Lottery Commission shall establish and begin
selling tickets to the lottery game as required by Section
466.0271, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than
January 1, 2018.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.