SB1052: Virginia Charitable Gaming Board; regulations of the Board.


SENATE BILL NO. 1052
AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE
(Proposed by the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology
on January 29, 2020)
(Patron Prior to Substitute--Senator Reeves)
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-340.26:1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Charitable Gaming Board; electronic versions of instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18.2-340.26:1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 18.2-340.26:1. Sale of instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards; proceeds not counted as gross receipts.

A. Instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards may be sold only upon the premises owned or exclusively leased by the organization and at such times as the portion of the premises in which the instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards are sold is open only to members and their guests. Nothing in this article shall be construed to prohibit the conduct of games of chance involving the sale of pull tabs or seal cards, commonly known as last sale games, conducted in accordance with this section.

B. The proceeds from instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards shall not be included in determining the gross receipts for a qualified organization provided the gaming (i) is limited exclusively to members of the organization and their guests, (ii) is not open to the general public, and (iii) there is no public solicitation or advertisement made regarding such gaming.

C. No more than 28 devices that facilitate the play of electronic versions of instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards, commonly referred to as electronic pull tabs, may be used upon the premises owned or exclusively leased by the organization and at such times as the portion of the premises in which the instant bingo, pull tabs or seal cards are sold is open only to members and their guests. The Board may approve exceptions to this requirement where there is a special or documented need.

SENATE BILL NO. 1052

Offered January 17, 2020
A BILL to amend and reenact § 18.2-340.19 of the Code of Virginia, relating to the Virginia Charitable Gaming Board; regulations of the Board; electronic or mechanical equipment used in the conduct of charitable gaming.
Patron-- Reeves

Referred to Committee on General Laws and Technology

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That § 18.2-340.19 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§ 18.2-340.19. Regulations of the Board.

A. The Board shall adopt regulations that:

1. Require, as a condition of receiving a permit, that the applicant use a predetermined percentage of its gross receipts for (i) those lawful religious, charitable, community or educational purposes for which the organization is specifically chartered or organized or (ii) those expenses relating to the acquisition, construction, maintenance or repair of any interest in real property involved in the operation of the organization and used for lawful religious, charitable, community or educational purposes. The regulation may provide for a graduated scale of percentages of gross receipts to be used in the foregoing manner based upon factors the Board finds appropriate to and consistent with the purpose of charitable gaming.

2. Specify the conditions under which a complete list of the organization's members who participate in the management, operation or conduct of charitable gaming may be required in order for the Board to ascertain the percentage of Virginia residents in accordance with subdivision A 3 of § 18.2-340.24.

Membership lists furnished to the Board or Department in accordance with this subdivision shall not be a matter of public record and shall be exempt from disclosure under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (§ 2.2-3700 et seq.).

3. Prescribe fees for processing applications for charitable gaming permits. Such fees may reflect the nature and extent of the charitable gaming activity proposed to be conducted.

4. Establish requirements for the audit of all reports required in accordance with § 18.2-340.30.

5. Define electronic and mechanical equipment used in the conduct of charitable gaming. Board regulations shall include capacity for such equipment to provide full automatic daubing as numbers are called. For the purposes of this subdivision, electronic or mechanical equipment for instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards shall include such equipment that displays facsimiles of instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards and are used solely for the purpose of dispensing or opening such paper or electronic cards, or both; but shall not include (i) devices operated by dropping one or more coins or tokens into a slot and pulling a handle or pushing a button or touchpoint on a touchscreen to activate one to three or more reels marked into horizontal segments by varying symbols, where the predetermined prize amount depends on how and how many of the symbols line up when the rotating reels come to rest, or (ii) other similar devices that display flashing lights or illuminations, or bells, whistles, or other sounds, solely intended to entice players to play. The Board's regulations shall authorize up to 28 individual devices of electronic or mechanical equipment for instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards to be located in the portion of the premises owned or exclusively leased by a qualified organization where access is limited to members of the organization and their guests.

6. Prescribe the conditions under which a qualified organization may (i) provide food and nonalcoholic beverages to its members who participate in the management, operation or conduct of bingo; (ii) permit members who participate in the management, operation or conduct of bingo to play bingo; and (iii) subject to the provisions of subdivision 13 of § 18.2-340.33, permit nonmembers to participate in the conduct of bingo so long as the nonmembers are under the direct supervision of a bona fide member of the organization during the bingo game.

7. Prescribe the conditions under which a qualified organization may sell raffle tickets for a raffle drawing that will be held outside the Commonwealth pursuant to subsection B of § 18.2-340.26.

8. Prescribe the conditions under which persons who are bona fide members of a qualified organization or a child, above the age of 13 years, of a bona fide member of such organization may participate in the conduct or operation of bingo games.

9. Prescribe the conditions under which a person below the age of 18 years may play bingo, provided such person is accompanied by his parent or legal guardian.

10. Require all qualified organizations that are subject to Board regulations to post in a conspicuous place in every place where charitable gaming is conducted a sign which bears a toll-free telephone number for "Gamblers Anonymous" or other organization which provides assistance to compulsive gamblers.

11. Prescribe the conditions under which a qualified organization may sell network bingo cards in accordance with § 18.2-340.28:1 and establish a percentage of proceeds derived from network bingo sales to be allocated to (i) prize pools, (ii) the organization conducting the network bingo, and (iii) the network bingo provider. The regulations shall also establish procedures for the retainage and ultimate distribution of any unclaimed prize.

B. In addition to the powers and duties granted pursuant to § 2.2-2456 and this article, the Board may, by regulation, approve variations to the card formats for bingo games provided such variations result in bingo games that are conducted in a manner consistent with the provisions of this article. Board-approved variations may include, but are not limited to, bingo games commonly referred to as player selection games and 90-number bingo.