By Goolsby H.B. No. 1657
74R3950 MWV-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the creation of a game of chance to be known as instant
1-3 bingo.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 2(2) and (22), Bingo Enabling Act
1-6 (Article 179d, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are amended to read
1-7 as follows:
1-8 (2) "Bingo" or "game" means a specific game of chance,
1-9 commonly known as bingo, instant bingo, pulltab, or lotto, in which
1-10 prizes are awarded on the basis of designated numbers or symbols on
1-11 a card conforming to numbers or symbols selected at random and
1-12 reflected on a cardboard, paper, or electronically produced card.
1-13 (22) "Bingo equipment" means equipment actually used,
1-14 made, leased, or sold for the purpose of use in bingo games and
1-15 includes machines or other devices from which balls or other items
1-16 are withdrawn to determine the letters and numbers or other symbols
1-17 to be called, the balls or items themselves, bingo cards, instant
1-18 bingo cards and instant bingo handheld devices, including
1-19 electronically produced cards that are loaded into a handheld
1-20 electronic device that aids a bingo player in tracking the numbers
1-21 or other symbols withdrawn during the conduct of the game, and any
1-22 other device commonly used in the direct operation of the game.
1-23 "Bingo equipment" does not include:
1-24 (A) a bingo game set commonly manufactured and
2-1 sold as a child's game for a retail price of $20 or less unless the
2-2 set or a part of the set is actually used in a bingo game subject
2-3 to regulation under this Act; <or>
2-4 (B) commonly available component parts of bingo
2-5 equipment such as light bulbs, fuses, or bingo balls; or
2-6 (C) a handheld electronic device, other than an
2-7 instant bingo handheld device, that allows a player to play
2-8 independently of the conduct of a game.
2-9 SECTION 2. Section 19(b), Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d,
2-10 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
2-11 (b) A game of bingo may <not> be conducted only with <any>
2-12 equipment <except> that is owned or leased by the licensed
2-13 authorized organization <or used without payment of any
2-14 compensation therefor by the licensee>.
2-15 SECTION 3. Section 11(u), Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d,
2-16 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is repealed.
2-17 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
2-18 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
2-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.