BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Research Center S.B. 1110
80R5413 YDB-F By: Carona
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
With a card-minding device, a certain number of bingo cards are digitally entered and stored in a machine. When a number is drawn, the individual enters that number and the device marks that number for each card that is being played on the device, notifying the player if the player has a winning card. Pull-tab bingo, as defined by current law, is a form of bingo played using tickets with perforated paper break-open tabs with a face covered to conceal numbers, letters, or symbols, some designated in advance as prize winners. It is commonly known as “instant bingo” or “break open bingo.” Under current law, a card-minding device is authorized to be leased by an organization licensed by the Texas Lottery Commission in order to assist individuals while playing bingo, but the use of such devices to play pull-tab bingo is not authorized.
As proposed, S.B. 1110 authorizes pull-tab bingo to be purchased and played on a card-minding device.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 2001.409, Occupations Code, by adding Subsection (b), to authorize a licensed authorized organization to use a card-minding device to display a Texas Lottery Commission-approved pull-tab bingo ticket to a player on the organization’s bingo premises during a bingo occasion.
SECTION 2. Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2007.