BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 3611 |
By: Lucio III |
Licensing & Administrative Procedures |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Concerns have been raised regarding the incidence of illegal gambling in some areas, which negatively impacts charitable bingo operations. C.S.H.B. 3611 seeks to address this issue by providing for the suspension of the entitlement of a county and certain municipalities to a local share of a bingo prize fee in counties where certain illegal gambling occurs to the detriment of charitable bingo.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Texas Lottery Commission in SECTION 1 of this bill.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 3611 amends the Occupations Code to authorize the Texas Lottery Commission, at the request of any person or on its own motion, to determine that a place of business located anywhere in a county in which a licensed authorized organization conducts bingo offers patrons of the business the opportunity to engage in gambling in violation of applicable Penal Code provisions and that the conduct is detrimental to the conduct of charitable bingo by one or more licensed authorized organizations. The bill requires the lottery commission, if such a determination is made, to notify the comptroller of public accounts, the applicable county, each licensed authorized organization and unit that conducts bingo in the county, and each municipality located in the county that is entitled to a local share of a prize fee that the state's authority to collect a prize fee and the entitlement to a local share of a prize fee will be terminated for all charitable bingo conducted in that county on the 30th day after the date of the notice. The bill authorizes a political subdivision that receives such a notification to provide evidence to the lottery commission to establish that the lottery commission's determination was made in error on the basis that offering the opportunity to engage in an applicable act of gambling is not occurring in that county or is not occurring to the detriment of charitable bingo. The evidence from the political subdivision must be received by the lottery commission no later than the 30th day after the date the subdivision receives the notice from the lottery commission. The bill prohibits the lottery commission from terminating the prize fee, if the lottery commission agrees the determination was made in error based on that evidence, and requires the lottery commission to notify the comptroller, the county, each licensed authorized organization and unit that conducts bingo in the county, and each municipality located in the county that is entitled to a local share of a prize fee of the lottery commission's decision not to terminate the collection of the prize fees.
C.S.H.B. 3611 requires the lottery commission to determine whether to accept or reject the evidence submitted by a political subdivision not later than the 30th day after the date of receipt. The bill requires the lottery commission, if, after considering such evidence, the lottery commission decides to terminate the collection of the prize fee, to notify each political subdivision that submitted evidence and authorizes any political subdivision that receives such notice to request an administrative hearing on the matter before the State Office of Administrative Hearings (SOAH). A request for such a hearing must be received by the lottery commission no later than the 30th day after the date a political subdivision receives notification that the lottery commission decided to terminate the collection of the prize fee.
C.S.H.B. 3611 establishes that a determination by the lottery commission regarding illegal gambling in a county becomes final on the 30th day after the lottery commission's determination unless that determination is contested as provided by the bill. The bill requires the lottery commission, on a final decision by the administrative law judge upholding the lottery commission's decision to terminate the collection of the prize fee, to notify the comptroller, the applicable county, each licensed authorized organization and unit that conducts bingo in the county, and each municipality located in the county that is entitled to a local share of a prize fee that the state's authority to collect a prize fee and the entitlement to a local share will be terminated for all charitable bingo conducted in that county on the 30th day after the date of the notice or on another date set by the lottery commission. The bill requires the lottery commission to adopt rules as necessary to implement the bill's provisions relating to the determination of illegal gambling in a county and authorizes such a rule to delegate to the director of the charitable bingo operations division within the lottery commission the determination regarding illegal gambling activity.
C.S.H.B. 3611 requires a licensed authorized organization or unit that is notified by the lottery commission that the state's authority to collect a prize fee is terminated under the bill's provisions to continue to collect the prize fee and requires each prize fee so collected to be deposited into the general fund of the licensed authorized organization or unit to be used for the charitable purposes of the organization. The bill establishes that a county or municipality to which statutory provisions relating to a local share of a prize fee apply is not entitled to a local share of a prize fee after the entitlement to the local share has been terminated by the lottery commission under the bill's provisions.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage, or, if the bill does not receive the necessary vote, September 1, 2017.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 3611 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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