Bill Caption

Relating to charitable raffles conducted by certain professional sports team charitable foundations.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

Bill Analysis

Under current law, the charitable foundations of certain sports organizations (such as the NFL, MLB, and NHL) are authorized to conduct charitable raffles as subject to certain regulations. HB 3125 would add many more groups to the list of eligible organizations, such as Minor League Baseball, the National Women’s Soccer League, the Professional Golf Association, and events sanctioned by certain motorsports racing associations. In addition, this bill would explicitly authorize the purchase of a charitable raffle ticket with a debit card.

Vote Recommendation Notes

This bill supports the principles of limited government, free markets, and individual liberty by granting more sports-connected foundations the authorization to conduct charitable raffles and by expanding the avenues through which a raffle ticket can be purchased. For this reason, we support HB 3125. We would support still further deregulation in this arena. There are far too many regulations on charitable raffles and Texas would do well to scale back those regulations significantly.