86R4648 GCB-D
By: Powell S.B. No. 832
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to lottery game revenue for grants to public school
prekindergarten programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter E, Chapter 29, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 29.1551 to read as follows:
Sec. 29.1551. FUND FOR PREKINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS. (a) The
fund for prekindergarten programs is a special fund in the state
treasury outside the general revenue fund. The fund is composed of:
(1) money transferred to the fund at the direction of
the legislature;
(2) gifts and grants contributed to the fund;
(3) the earnings of the fund; and
(4) money transferred to the fund from proceeds of the
lottery game operated under Section 466.0275, Government Code.
(b) Money in the fund may be appropriated only to the agency
to:
(1) provide grants under Section 29.155 to school
districts and open-enrollment charter schools to implement or
expand prekindergarten programs in accordance with that section;
and
(2) administer the fund.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 466, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 466.0275 to read as follows:
Sec. 466.0275. PUBLIC PRE-K GAME. (a) The commission shall
operate an instant-ticket lottery game to benefit the fund for
prekindergarten programs established by Section 29.1551, 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 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 public prekindergarten programs in
this state. The game tickets must clearly state that the game
proceeds are used to benefit the public prekindergarten students in
this state. The Texas Education Agency 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.
SECTION 3. 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 operated under Section 466.0275 to the fund for
prekindergarten programs established by Section 29.1551, Education
Code; and
(C) the remainder to the foundation school fund.
SECTION 4. (a) Section 466.355, Government Code, as
amended by this Act, applies only to a transfer from the state
lottery account made on or after the effective date of this Act.
(b) The Texas Lottery Commission shall establish and begin
selling tickets to the lottery game as required by Section
466.0275, Government Code, as added by this Act, not later than
March 1, 2020.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.