BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 383|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 383
Author: Wolk (D)
Amended: 1/12/12
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION COMM : 10-0, 01/10/12
AYES: Wright, Anderson, Berryhill, Cannella, Corbett, De
Le�n, Evans, Hernandez, Padilla, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Calderon, Strickland, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 6-0, 1/17/12
AYES: Kehoe, Walters, Alquist, Pavley, Price, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Emmerson, Lieu, Runner
SUBJECT : Remote caller bingo
SOURCE : California Association of Nonprofits
DIGEST : This bill makes revisions to the Remote Caller
Bingo Program administered by the California Gambling
Control Commission (CGCC).
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1. Authorizes the Legislature to enact statutes enabling
cities and counties to authorize bingo games for
charitable purposes.
2. Authorizes a city or county to adopt an ordinance
allowing eligible nonprofit organizations to conduct
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bingo games and remote caller bingo games for
charitable purposes under specific conditions.
3. Prohibits an organization from conducting remote
caller bingo more than 2 days per week, and forbids
more than 750 players from participating in a remote
caller bingo game at a single location.
4. Requires an organization authorized to conduct remote
caller bingo games to give at least 30 days' advance
written notice of its intent to conduct a remote caller
bingo game.
5. Requires the CGCC to regulate remote caller bingo,
including licensure and operations.
6. Requires licensure of any person who conducts a
remote caller bingo game, and any person who
manufactures or otherwise provides equipment for use in
the playing of a remote caller bingo game.
7. Requires the CGCC to approve in advance all equipment
used for remote caller bingo, and to monitor operation
of the transmission and other equipment used for remote
caller bingo.
This bill:
1. Allows a city or county to amend an existing local
ordinance that allows bingo games to be conducted
within that jurisdiction to permit the conduct of
remote caller bingo games pursuant to that ordinance.
2. Includes charitable organizations affiliated with a
community college district among the organizations
eligible to conduct remote caller bingo.
3. Prohibits an organization from conducting remote
caller bingo more than 2 days a week, but allows an
organization to conduct one additional game in each
calendar quarter if it so chooses.
4. Requires an organization authorized to conduct remote
caller bingo games to provide at least 10 days' advance
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written notice of intent to conduct a remote caller
bingo game on a form prescribed by the city, county, or
city and county, and to provide notice within 24 hours
if the location of the remote caller bingo game
changes.
5. Eliminates state licensure requirements for the
conduct of remote caller bingo, and instead requires an
organization that is eligible to conduct remote caller
bingo games to register annually with the CGCC.
6. Requires the CGCC to maintain a registry on its
Internet website of all organizations registered to
conduct remote caller bingo, and authorizes a charge
for an annual registration fee of $100 to cover the
CGCC's actual costs of administration and enforcement.
7. Requires an organization licensed to conduct remote
caller bingo, or a management company with whom the
licensed organization contracts, to register all of its
local bingo licenses with CGCC. The bill authorizes
the CGCC to charge a fee to cover the cost of the
registration requirement and would require that
registration information be made available to the
public upon request.
8. Makes additional technical and conforming changes
relating to the duties of the Department of Justice
(DOJ) and the CGCC, including outlining procedures for
a city or county as the local licensing entity, to
obtain a background check from DOJ.
9. Deletes a requirement that the CGCC approve all
equipment used for remote caller bingo in advance, but
would require the city, county, or city and county to
monitor operation of the transmission and other
equipment used for remote caller bingo and to monitor
the game.
10. Authorizes the CGCC to audit the books and records of
a licensed organization or a management company
contracted by a licensed organization to conduct remote
caller bingo at any time, and would require audit
information to be publicly available.
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11. Requires a management company to retain an
independent CPA to conduct an annual audit of its books
and records, and would subject a management company to
a civil penalty for filing false information with the
CGCC.
12. Specifies that the live, physical calling and
broadcast of a remote caller bingo game shall only be
conducted from a jurisdiction that has adopted an
ordinance authorizing remote caller bingo games within
the jurisdiction.
13. Deletes a requirement that a loan to the CGCC from
the Gambling Control Fund be repaid within 5 years,
although it does not extinguish the repayment
obligation.
14. Makes additional changes relating to the requirements
for cosponsoring remote caller bingo games, and would
simplify other procedures and requirements applicable
to the conduct of remote caller bingo games.
Additionally, the bill repeals provisions relating to
bingo card-minding devices and related duties of the
CGCC.
15. Repeals the model remote caller bingo ordinance set
forth in existing law.
16. Until June 1, 2012, authorizes a city, county, or
city and county to recognize a state license, work
permit, or approval of equipment that was issued by the
CGCC and if effect on June 30, 2011, as specified.
Background
A 1976 ballot measure authorized California charities and
nonprofits to operate conventional paper bingo games for
charitable purposes. But in recent years, traditional bingo
offered by the Catholic Church, Elks lodges, American
Legion halls and other charities has struggled to compete
against the expanding and flourishing tribal casinos. To
regain lost participation and income, charitable
organizations began offering bingo play using electronic
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bingo machines.
Despite opinions of the Attorney General concluding that
electronic bingo is illegal under long-standing state law,
electronic bingo machines began to proliferate throughout
the state. Indian gaming interests warned that the
machines violated "exclusivity" agreements on electronic
gaming devices, for which they had agreed to pay the state
millions of dollars a year. Unless the state acted, tribes
threatened to suspend those payments. The CGCC began
seizing electronic bingo machines until a federal court
enjoined this practice pending further litigation.
Remote caller bingo . In 2008, SB 1369 (Cedillo), Chapter
748, was enacted to allow the play of remote caller bingo
in an effort to help nonprofit organizations continue their
fundraising efforts. In remote caller bingo, the
organization conducting the bingo game uses audio and video
technology to link any of its facilities in order to
transmit the remote "calling" of a live bingo game from a
single location to multiple locations owned, leased or
rented by that organization. Remote caller bingo games can
offer payouts equal to 37 percent of gross revenues, but at
least 43 percent of revenues must go to the sponsoring
charity or nonprofit, with no more than 20 percent of
receipts spent on overhead.
Program fiscal condition . Since the inception of the
Remote Caller Bingo program in FY 2008-09, the CGCC's
start-up, operating and personnel costs totaled $340,000,
with offsetting revenue of only $5,000 per year. Costs of
the program were paid for by a loan from the Gambling
Control Fund on January 1, 2009, which was to be repaid as
soon as there was sufficient money in the California Bingo
Fund, but no later than five years after the date of the
loan. This bill deletes the requirement that the loan be
repaid within 5 years, but does not extinguish the loan
repayment obligation.
The CGCC unilaterally halts administration of program . As
of June 30, 2011, the CGCC announced that it no longer has
monetary or personnel support for this program, and has
notified affected organizations that it "has terminated its
administration of the program." The CGCC is no longer
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acting upon applications to participate in the program.
Therefore, only those entities recognized prior to June 30,
2011 are authorized to conduct the game, according to the
CGCC. The CGCC cited no statute or authority in support of
its decision to terminate its administration of the remote
caller bingo law.
Related Legislation
SB 340 (Wolk) of 2011, is substantially similar to this
bill. It was held under submission in Assembly
Appropriations in 2011.
SB 1090 (Cedillo), Chapter 514, Statutes of 2010, allows
charitable organizations to conduct remote caller bingo
games up to 2 days per week, instead of 1 day per week.
Amended the model local ordinance to provide additional
flexibility for local agencies to verify the tax-exempt
status of organizations applying for a license to conduct
bingo games.
SB 126 (Cedillo), Chapter 562, Statutes of 2009, enacted a
model local ordinance for use by local government agencies
to sanction remote caller bingo in the city or county
jurisdiction.
SB 1369 (Cedillo), Chapter 748, Statutes of 2008, banned
the use of electronic bingo machines, but authorized the
play of remote caller bingo up to one time per week in
jurisdictions that have a remote caller bingo ordinance,
and created a mitigation fund to minimize the impacts to
the charities that previously operated electronic bingo
machines.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2012-13 2013-14
2014-15 Fund
Remote caller bingo registry $108 $108
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$108Special*
(potentially offset by fees revenue)
Audit unknown,
potentially offset by fees
Special*
*California Bingo Fund
SUPPORT : (Verified 1/18/12)
California Association of Nonprofits (source)
AMVETS, Department of California
Bingo Innovations
California Association of Nonprofits
Vietnam Veterans of America
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Supporters state that, under the
current legislation, charities are required to follow
complicated bureaucratic guidelines, which stunt the
ability of qualified honorable charities to provide
fundraising games in their community. The process for
licensure requires excessive paperwork and a lengthy period
of review for qualification.
Supporters believe that this bill will streamline and
revise oversight of remote caller bingo. This legislation
provides for very strictly defined accountability, thus
protecting the public, at the same time as it makes
charitable bingo more accessible by simplifying procedures
and requirements for conducting remote caller bingo games.
Supporters state that the current regulatory program is too
complicated and overwhelming for charities to navigate.
Smaller charities seeking part time fundraising (Schools,
little leagues, clubs, etc.) have found the licensing
process too complicated for their occasional small events.
In the spirit of the law, remote caller bingo was designed
to enable all qualified charities a method of fundraising
to help their organizations to provide essential services.
PQ:nl 1/18/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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