By Armbrister S.B. No. 575
76R2834 AJA-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of bingo, including the authorization of
1-3 linked bingo games.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2, Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d,
1-6 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subdivisions
1-7 (2), (22), and (25) and adding Subdivision (30) to read as follows:
1-8 (2) "Bingo" or "game" means a specific game of chance,
1-9 commonly known as bingo or lotto, in which prizes are awarded on
1-10 the basis of designated numbers or symbols conforming to numbers or
1-11 symbols selected at random. The term includes a linked bingo game.
1-12 (22) "Bingo equipment" means equipment actually used,
1-13 made, or sold for the purpose of use in bingo games and includes
1-14 machines or other devices from which balls or other items are
1-15 withdrawn to determine the letters and numbers or other symbols to
1-16 be called, electronic or mechanical cardminding devices, pull-tab
1-17 or instant bingo dispensers, bingo cards, equipment used to
1-18 automate any part of the bingo game process as allowed by law or to
1-19 operate a linked bingo game, and any other device commonly used in
1-20 the direct operation of a bingo [the] game. "Bingo equipment" does
1-21 not include:
1-22 (A) a bingo game set commonly manufactured and
1-23 sold as a child's game for a retail price of $20 or less unless the
1-24 set or a part of the set is actually used in a bingo game subject
2-1 to regulation under this Act; or
2-2 (B) commonly available component parts of bingo
2-3 equipment such as light bulbs, fuses, or bingo balls.
2-4 (25) "Automated bingo services" means a computer
2-5 program or system:
2-6 (A) for registering or accounting for bingo
2-7 sales, prizes, inventory, and prize fees;
2-8 (B) [,] for generating required reports to the
2-9 commission;
2-10 (C) [, and] for providing the conductor of a
2-11 bingo game with other information requested for accounting or other
2-12 business purposes;
2-13 (D) for operating a linked bingo game; or
2-14 (E) for automating any part of the bingo game
2-15 process as allowed by law.
2-16 (30) "Linked bingo game" means a single bingo game in
2-17 which players participate simultaneously at two or more locations
2-18 at which licensed authorized organizations are authorized to
2-19 conduct bingo and for which there is a common prize pool and a
2-20 common selection of numbers or symbols conducted at one location,
2-21 with the results of the selection transmitted electronically to all
2-22 participating locations by satellite, telephone, or other means.
2-23 SECTION 2. Section 11, Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d,
2-24 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections
2-25 (e), (f), (i), and (v) and by adding Subsection (v-1) to read as
2-26 follows:
2-27 (e) A prize may not exceed the sum or value of $750 in any
3-1 single game of bingo other than a linked bingo game.
3-2 (f) A series of prizes offered or awarded on any one bingo
3-3 occasion for bingo games other than instant bingo or linked bingo
3-4 games may not aggregate more than $2,500.
3-5 (i) A licensed authorized organization [Bingo games] may not
3-6 conduct bingo games [be conducted] at more than one location on
3-7 property owned or leased by the [a] licensed authorized
3-8 organization.
3-9 (v) A person may not use a card-minding device:
3-10 (1) to generate or determine the random letters,
3-11 numbers, or other symbols used in playing the bingo card played
3-12 with the device's assistance;
3-13 (2) as a receptacle for the deposit of tokens or
3-14 money, including coins or paper currency, in payment for playing
3-15 the bingo card played with the device's assistance; or
3-16 (3) as a dispenser for the payment of a bingo prize,
3-17 including coins, paper currency, or any thing of value for the
3-18 bingo card played with the device's assistance. No more than 40
3-19 percent of the individuals attending a bingo occasion, based on the
3-20 average of two previously submitted quarterly reports, may use
3-21 electronic or mechanical card-minding devices. This provision does
3-22 not include pull-tabs, instant bingo tickets, [or] break-open bingo
3-23 games, or linked bingo games.
3-24 (v-1) Subsection (v) of this section does not prohibit a
3-25 card minder from awarding and playing credits for linked bingo
3-26 games.
3-27 SECTION 3. The Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d, Vernon's
4-1 Texas Civil Statutes) is amended by adding Section 11b to read as
4-2 follows:
4-3 Sec. 11b. LINKED BINGO GAMES. (a) A licensed authorized
4-4 organization may conduct or participate in a linked bingo game in
4-5 conjunction with one or more other licensed authorized
4-6 organizations.
4-7 (b) Each participating licensed authorized organization
4-8 shall contribute an amount to each prize awarded in a linked bingo
4-9 game in proportion to the organization's gross receipts derived
4-10 from the conduct of the game at that organization's location as
4-11 compared with the total gross receipts derived from the conduct of
4-12 the game by licensed authorized organizations at all bingo
4-13 locations participating in the game.
4-14 (c) The commission by rule shall specify:
4-15 (1) the manner in which a prize in a linked bingo game
4-16 may be paid; and
4-17 (2) the manner in which a licensed authorized
4-18 organization may comply with the requirements of Section 15 of this
4-19 Act with respect to a linked bingo game.
4-20 (d) Each licensed authorized organization participating in a
4-21 linked bingo game shall collect and remit a portion of the fee
4-22 imposed on a prize awarded in the game under Section 19b of this
4-23 Act in proportion to the organization's contribution to the prize
4-24 under Subsection (b) of this section.
4-25 (e) Each county or municipality entitled under Section 19c
4-26 of this Act to receive a percentage of a fee on a prize awarded in
4-27 a bingo game is entitled to the same percentage of the portion of a
5-1 fee imposed on a prize awarded in a linked bingo game that is
5-2 collected in the county or municipality.
5-3 SECTION 4. Section 18, Bingo Enabling Act (Article 179d,
5-4 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
5-5 Sec. 18. FREQUENCY AND TIMES OF GAMES. An occasion of bingo
5-6 may not be conducted under any license issued under this Act more
5-7 often than three days per calendar week, not to exceed eight [four]
5-8 hours per 24-hour period. A licensed organization may conduct two
5-9 occasions per 24-hour period. No more than two organizations may
5-10 conduct a game of bingo in one place on one 24-hour period. If two
5-11 organizations conduct games of bingo in one place on one 24-hour
5-12 period, these occasions must be announced separately, and an
5-13 intermission of at least 10 minutes must occur between the games.
5-14 No more than two bingo occasions per day may be conducted at any
5-15 location except that a third occasion per day may be conducted at
5-16 any location [except that a third occasion may be conducted] under
5-17 a temporary license held by a licensed authorized organization at
5-18 that location. No more than seven licensed authorized
5-19 organizations may conduct bingo at any bingo premises.
5-20 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-21 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
5-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.