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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | January 24, 2013 09:58 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Rick Saccone |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Exempts 50/50 drawings and "Chinese Auctions" from reporting requirements for Small Games of Chance |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that will give licensed organizations under the Local Option Small Games of Chance Act an opportunity to offer additional games for their patrons and exempting the prizes from these games from the reporting requirements. As you know, many of our charitable organizations would like to offer Chinese auctions as another way to raise money for their organization. Many of you know what this game is and how popular it is with our organizations, but currently, under the Local Option Small Games of Chance act, it is illegal. Current law states that only punchboards, daily drawings, weekly drawings, 50/50 drawings, raffles, and pull-tabs are permitted to be played by a licensed eligible organization. Since the passage of Act 2 of 2012, there has been an enormous amount of discussion among groups to make other games legal, as many organizations have been operating them for decades without government interference. In addition, Chinese Auctions and 50/50 drawings (now legal) are probably the most played games by many smaller organizations, from high school football boosters to your local knitting club to some Rod and Gun clubs. I believe it is imperative to legalize Chinese Auctions and let the organizations continue to operate them as they have in the past without any reporting requirements. To summarize, my legislation would expand the legal games of chance and selective raffles (Chinese Auctions). For selective raffles, if the prizes do not exceed $5000 per game, then the organization is exempt from reporting the prizes as part of their annual or semi-annual report. For 50/50 drawings, if the prizes for not exceed $1000 per game, then the organization is exempt from reporting prizes as part of their annual or semi-annual report. |
Introduced as HB424