Undoing a stunning earlier vote that jeopardized the lottery, the House on Tuesday reversed itself and reauthorized the Lottery Commission.
Lawmakers had voted not to reauthorize the commission through September 2025 -- potentially costing the state more than $2 billion in lottery revenue.
During a subsequent lunch recess, however, lawmakers were urged to reconsider by party leadership.
They eventually did, and the commission was reauthorized on a second vote. Without reauthorization, the commission would have wound down and ceased to exist by September 2014.
The state budget already under consideration in the Legislature has factored in $1.04 billion annually to public schools from the lottery.
If that had disappeared, it would have created a deficit lawmakers would have had to fill.
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