Senate committee advances lottery governance bill but records show negative committee recommendation on onward referral

Senator Roberts told the committee his bill would reconstitute the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation board to align appointments with recent practice, apply more transparency and require annual audits to be shared with Senate and House finance chairs. He said he removed an original sunset provision from the bill but expects finance committees to have access to annual audits.

Will Carver, who identified himself as the lottery chairperson, described the corporation’s audit record and operations. "Since inception, we have had 22 straight years of clean state audits," Carver said, and he argued removing the sunset helps the agency negotiate long-term contracts with vendors and maintain operational stability.

Committee members asked about the ratio of revenue that goes to winners, operations and education and about whether changing the appointment structure unduly shifts power from the governor to the legislature. Carver said operating expenses are under 5% of sales and defended the current and proposed appointment and confirmation process.

After procedural confusion and a clerk’s review of the roll call, the committee recorded that the bill will advance to State and Local with a negative recommendation (committee record indicates mixed aye/no/pass tallies and the chief clerk confirmed the negative recommendation).