If you live in Texas, you’ve likely been subject to a steady stream of advertisements calling for the legalization of casinos in the state.
Following a series of repetitive and unsuccessful ads is a new social media advertising campaign launched to protect the embattled Texas Lottery, and, troublingly, it’s directly linked to an advisor in Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
Last week, a day before the release of Rigged, Texas Scorecard’s documentary outlining the various scandals that have engulfed the Texas Lottery, Texans for a Stronger Economy appears to have launched a Facebook ad campaign to hype the lottery and its economic benefits.
According to IRS tax filings, Texans for a Stronger Economy was established as a non-profit in 2014 by Austin lobbyist Robert S. Howden to “collect and distribute information regarding the positive economic benefits of the Texas Lottery.”
Ahead of the 2025 legislative session, which has seen the Texas Lottery Commission come under withering scrutiny, Howden was appointed as an advisor to Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
Texas Ethics Commission records, aggregated by Transparency USA, show that Howden has been the sole lobbyist for Texans for a Stronger Economy since its founding and that he has been compensated for those services.
Inexplicably, there is no corresponding expenditure or compensation from the group to Howden in the entity’s filings with the IRS.
Howden appears on the required IRS 990 filings as working 20-hour weeks for the organization but reporting zero compensation. Those who frequently review 990 filings will find that odd.
Since the organization falls below revenue thresholds, no related entity is disclosed on tax filings.
A call to Howden for clarification about why he’s disclosing compensation to the Texas Ethics Commission but not on the IRS 990 filings, either through direct disclosure of compensation or payments made to a related entity, was not returned.
The compensation range Howden discloses to the TEC corresponds closely to expenditures by the non-profit to “consultants.”
By law, donors to the non-profit are hidden, and any infusions into the entity to bankroll this current public relations effort will not be disclosed until May 2026 at the earliest.
While no definitive answer is available about the backer of this outfit, a couple of entities might be interested in propping up the lottery: ticket resellers operating illegally in Texas or the state’s lottery vendor, International Game Technology.
Both resellers and IGT have a vested interest in promoting a status quo at the Texas Lottery, but one was more likely to be interested in public relations lobbying prior to 2016 in Texas, IGT.
If IGT is involved, it could represent another breach of contract with Texas. Contractually, IGT must disclose lobbying and political expenditures. A request to IGT for comment was not returned before publishing.
Texas Scorecard exclusively reported that IGT contributed to the political caucuses and to the governor’s State of the State address.
Howden’s link to the lottery is just the latest connection to the governor’s office. Luis Saenz, the governor’s chief of staff from 2017 to 2022, is now a lobbyist for IGT. Critics of the lottery and, by extension, resellers have viewed the governor’s office with skepticism for these connections.
Inaction by Texas Lottery commissioners and the governor’s advice to the commission to ignore a 2023 budget rider aimed at ending so-called courier ticket sales in the state add to concerns.
A request to the governor’s office for comment and a copy of Howden’s personnel file were not returned before publication.
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