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Good morning,

Given the number of serious scandals that have been discovered about the operations of the Texas Lottery, we asked readers yesterday if it should be reconstituted as an agency or abolished altogether. Find the survey results below.

This is the Texas Minute for Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025.

– Michael Quinn Sullivan 

Feds, State Officials Target Criminal Aliens for Arrest in Colony Ridge

• Federal and state law enforcement authorities have begun targeting criminal illegal aliens in the Colony Ridge development north of Houston, according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. Joseph Trimmer has the details.
      
• The Colony Ridge development has been the subject of controversy, with critics accusing the developer of attracting a large population of illegal aliens by advertising in Spanish on social media and offering predatory loans that require no social security number.
      
• The extent of the enforcement action is not clear. DPS vehicles were visibly patrolling and conducting traffic stops in the area.
      
• Abbott said the operation had been in the works with President Donald Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan "for months."

Abbott Says ‘Sharia Cities’ Are Not Allowed in Texas

• A controversy erupted after reports surfaced that the East Plano Islamic Center is developing a 402-acre planned community centered around a mosque and Islamic school. While developers describe the project as a housing community designed to meet the needs of local Muslims, critics argue that it could function as an exclusionary enclave.
      
• As Brandon Waltens reports, Gov. Greg Abbott is speaking out against the project as it has been presented to the public.
   
• "To be clear, Sharia law is not allowed in Texas. Nor are Sharia cities," wrote Gov. Abbott on 𝕏.
     
• Abbott’s statement reinforces existing state law that already prohibits the application of foreign legal codes, including Sharia law, in Texas courts. In 2017, Abbott signed House Bill 45, which explicitly bans Texas judges from enforcing foreign law—such as Sharia—in family law cases. 

Senators Rip Lottery Commission as Committee Advances New Ban

• Members of the Senate State Affairs Committee tore into the leadership of the Texas Lottery yesterday amid fallout surrounding their agency's improprieties. Luca Cacciatore reports the senators advanced legislation banning illicit ticket resellers, which the commission had authorized.
        
• The ban comes in the form of Senate Bill 28 by Bob Hall (R-Edgewood). The measure prohibits the sale of lottery tickets through online courier services. State law allows tickets to only be sold in-person as cash transactions, but the commission had allowed the so-called "couriers" to exist.
    
• "One step at a time, the crime syndicate inside the Texas Lottery Commission completely destroyed what the 1992 Texas Legislature intended to be an honest game of chance, with specific guardrails to protect minors and addicts," said Sen. Hall.
      
• State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) called the apparent money laundering inside the lottery courier services “probably the most wide-open fraud that we’ve had in Texas’ history.”
     
• "It almost seems like at this point it’s [the Texas Lottery] run like organized crime," added State Sen. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston), who later described the commission as a "rogue government agency."

The Lottery's Worst Day (So Far)

• On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Rangers to open an investigation into the scandal-plagued lottery commission. This comes on the heels of revelations, including those first reported by Texas Scorecard, of the agency aiding in violations of state law.
      
• Shortly after, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick asked the rangers to expand that investigation into the actions of lottery vendors.
   
• All of this came as both the Texas House and Texas Senate held contentious hearings with lottery officials about the agency's operations.
      
• After nearly a decade of lottery officials allowing illicit ticket resellers (known as "couriers") to operate in contradiction to state law, the agency made an abrupt u-turn on Monday, announcing they would now ban these vendors in the state.
      
• This came less than a week after Patrick went to a ticket reseller's location and exposed their operations in a viral video on social media. "Suddenly, they found religion and now want integrity in their game," wrote Patrick on Monday.
      
• Ahead of the Senate State Affairs Committee meeting yesterday, Patrick said that without major reforms, "the Senate will end the Lottery this session."

Texas Home School Coalition Warns Lobbying Law Threatens Political Speech

• In a brief filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, the Texas Home School Coalition warned that the Texas Ethics Commission's enforcement of "lobbying" laws poses a direct threat to political speech and the right of citizens to petition the government.
        
• NOTE: This article involves my ongoing fight against the speech regulators at the TEC. The dispute dates back to 2014, when the TEC fined me $10,000 for allegedly acting as an unregistered lobbyist. They effectively ruled that my efforts to inform the public and legislators about the Fiscal Responsibility Index required me (and you!) to get permission from the government to speak.
       
• THSC’s concerns stem from the state's broad lobbying registration requirements that require activists to register as lobbyists, file disclosures, and pay a licensing fee—even if they are unpaid volunteers or grassroots activists.
         
• “Michael Quinn Sullivan became the target of a novel enforcement of Chapter 305 based on the complaints of two legislators who were upset with how Mr. Sullivan had ranked their votes,” wrote the THSC attorneys in the group's brief.

UT Austin Cancels Federal Grant Agreement With Planned Parenthood

• A federal grant sub-award agreement between the University of Texas at Austin and Planned Parenthood of Illinois has been terminated, according to documents obtained by Texas Scorecard's Valerie Muñoz through an open records request.
      
• The contract termination, signed by UT Austin’s Associate Director of Contracting on February 11, is set to take effect on February 28.
     
• In a letter last month, U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-Austin) questioned the university’s appropriation of funds to the organization. According to USASpending.gov, UT Austin distributed the funds from a $2 million grant awarded by the federal government. UT, in turn, awarded the money to Planned Parenthood.
      
• "Planned Parenthood of Illinois is a radical entity and the University of Texas’ association with it violates the conscience of millions of Texans." – Chip Roy

Apple To Open Major Manufacturing Facility in Houston

• In a move that underscores Houston’s growing role in the tech world, Michael Wilson reports that Apple has announced a $500 billion investment, including a new server manufacturing facility slated to open in 2026.
   
• Apple plans to open a 250,000-square-foot server manufacturing facility in the Houston area that will produce servers supporting Apple Intelligence—Apple’s proprietary AI system.

Amarillo Police Chief Allowed To Retire

• Amarillo’s police chief Martin Birkenfeld has been allowed to retire after he publicly supported a high school football coach who sexually abused a 15-year-old female student. Erin Anderson has the story.
   
• Birkenfeld was suspended last week following backlash for his defense of coach Cole Underwood, who had confessed to federal charges of sexually exploiting the freshman athlete while he was the athletic director at Perryton Independent School District. Birkenfeld offered his support to Underwood after the educator confessed to the crime.
      
• Underwood previously coached at Amarillo ISD, where he reportedly earned the nickname “Perv” for his inappropriate conduct around female students.

Quote-Unquote

"Now in the way of Lottery men do also tax themselves in the general, though out of hopes of Advantage in particular: A Lottery therefore is properly a Tax upon unfortunate self-conceited fools."

– Sir William Petty​

Y'All Answered

It has been revealed that the Texas Lottery Commission facilitated a foreign group to rig a jackpot in what one state senator described as a money laundering operation. In recent days, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has put a spotlight on the commission allowing illicit resellers (so-called "courier services") to operate outside the bounds of state law.

Yesterday, we asked readers if the Texas Lottery should be reconstituted or abolished. More than three-quarters (76.2 percent) want the lottery abolished, while 23.8 percent would like to see it reconstituted.

Here is a sampling of the replies we received after folks participated in the survey...

• “The entire lottery system is fraught with moral hazard. Simply band-aiding the scandals is insufficient.” – Stephen Casey
      

• “The lottery has not ever accomplished what we were told it would do... fund education.   It has just been another scheme to pad the pockets of corrupt individuals on the backs of the citizens of Texas!  SHUT IT DOWN!” – Deb Hillis 
      

• “Like any form of gambling, it has been a cancer in our state from the beginning.” – Ken Bintliff
      

• “Like everything government touches, the Texas Lottery Commission has become a festering, disease-ridden monster that needs to be stabbed through the heart with an iron stake. Close it. Shut it down. Light it on fire, then forget we ever had a lottery in Texas.” – Allison Love
      

• “The lottery is a ‘tax’ on those who can least afford it and has become a haven for criminal activity.  Abolish it and clean up Texas!” – Arthur McLean
      

• “Instead of the Lottery, how about casinos? This would not only employ people in our state, it would also give people a chance to gamble a different way than buying lottery tickets.” – Melinda Slade
      

• “Lotteries are nothing but slush funds for grifters.” – Jerrod Harrison
        

• “Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Fix the identified problems and keep the revenue stream coming.” – Victor Johnson
     

• “Rather than spend money on a lottery, if Texans would invest those dollars in a needy child, the Heavenly reward would be without measure!” – Dixie Mayer
      

• “Abolish the whole lottery and prevent online sports betting and casino gambling while you’re at it.” – Al Crable
      

• “Take the computer out of the process!  Go back to having someone select numbers from the spinning bin.  The Texas Lottery was fun—spend a dollar occasionally to win a few.” – Barbara Nash
      

• “I voted against the lottery twice when I lived in California. The lottery caters to people who have no business playing.” – Randy Schroder
      

• “Regarding the Texas lottery,  it cannot be fixed.  There are too many immoral people anymore.  Abolish it for the good of the state.” – Cathe Harris
      

• “Shutdown all digital lottery bundler operations. Require in-person, cash purchases only.” – Dennis Hauze
       

• “Get rid of it! It hasn't ever funded what it was voted in to fund: schools. Corruption is rampant apparently; not sure that revamping is a viable option at this point.” –Rhonda Pool

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