The Texas Lottery may live on, despite accusations of corruption and misuse, but things will change.
The state House of Representatives voted on Monday to take the only path left to keep the lottery going -- tighten restrictions and move things around.
There were calls over the past few months as legislators met in Austin to allow the lottery to die a quiet death, after accusations that the entity running the game, the Texas Lottery Commission, wasn't protecting the "integrity" of its domain.
There were two jackpots won in the past two years that showed how bypassing some rules can win big, as people and groups with multi-million dollar bank accounts bought up tickets in bulk and used "courier services" in ways that came under criticism.
But legislative bills to investigate the circumstances fell by the wayside and two bills that would have revived the lottery also were forgotten as the current session became distracted by other issues as the months since January flew by.
Now, as the session winds down, the only way left to save any portion of the lottery is Senate Bill 3070, which dissolves the Lottery Commission and moves the games over to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, and includes a ban on lottery online sales.
If the bill can make it out of the legislature and is signed by Governor Greg Abbott, it might not change the lottery enough for most people to notice, but it would only be the beginning of scrutiny as the lottery tries to return to public confidence after scandal.