A summary of the Bill (from the PA General Assembly website);
Subject: Small Games of Chance Revisions
Since the passage of
Act 2 of 2012 (Small Games of Chance), many of us have been contacted by the
various clubs and organizations in our districts with concerns regarding some
of the changes that were made.
Shortly, we plan to
introduce legislation that should remedy some of these concerns and help our
organizations. We are proposing to:
• Clarify the definition of public interest purpose to make
it clear that an entity operating solely in the public interest has the ability
to retain the money for their own charitable purposes;
• Add new games such as Chinese auction (selective raffle),
quarter auction, Night at the Races, Texas Hold ‘em (defining it in a manner
that the game can only have an entrance fee to play and there is no award of
money for the play of the game) and vertical wheel (chuck a luck, big wheel);
• Permit Department
of Revenue to approve new small games of chance per regulation with statutory
guidelines;• Clarify when proceeds need to be expended for public interest by changing it from same calendar year to 12 months from when the proceeds were received;
• Include that annual
report form will be available in paper format and can be filed by mail;
• Clarify that an
organization may hold their small games at another organization’s licensed
premise and each organization can operate games at the same time (For example,
if a VFW wants to operate their games, they can still rent out their banquet
room to another organization holding a fundraiser simultaneously);
• Change secretary to
treasurer for those who need background checks;
• Eliminate the need
for a limited occasion license (see below for new licenses);• Clarify the license process and requirements based on the amount of proceeds an organization receives from small games of chance. There will be two licenses –
1.An organization making less than $40,000 a year in
proceeds from games of chance will pay $25 for their license. This license will allow them to operate all
the current small games of chance, and also exempt them from annual reporting,
background checks and separate bank accounts for their proceeds.
2. An organization making more than $40,000 a year in
proceeds from games of chance will pay the current license fee of $100 for a
license. The license will allow them to
operate all the current small games of chance, but will be required to report
annually, submit to background checks and keep separate bank accounts for their
proceeds.
• Provide that club
licensees may retain the first $40,000 in small games of chance proceeds for
their own use. Once the $40,000 has been
retained by the organization, the current 70/30 split of proceeds between
public interest purposes and general operating expenses begins;
• Clarify that Liquor
Control Enforcement (LCE) does not have enforcement powers over small games of
chance violations with organizations that solely have a special occasion permit
under the Liquor Code. LCE would retain enforcement power over any Liquor Code
violations of these organizations;
• Change the
following regulation record keeping requirements:
-Increasing from $100 to $600, the requirement that an
organization must record the name and address of a winner. This will align with the $600 federal
requirement for the organization and winner to report to the IRS.
-Eliminating the
requirement that an organization must obtain receipts for all donated items.
The changes we are proposing are beneficial to
all organizations, whether large or small.
We greatly value the contributions these organizations make to our
communities.-End of Bill 290 Summary-
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