PRINTER'S NO. 1129
No. 959 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY PALLONE, CAPPELLI, CAWLEY, COY, FABRIZIO, GERGELY,
GRUCELA, HARHAI, HORSEY, LAUGHLIN, MANN, MARKOSEK,
McILHATTAN, ROONEY, RUFFING, SAINATO, SCRIMENTI, SHANER,
THOMAS AND WALKO, MARCH 25, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, MARCH 25, 2003
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 10, 1981 (P.L.214, No.67), entitled "An
2 act relating to the lawful conduct of bingo, prescribing
3 penalties and making a repeal," further providing for rules
4 for licensing and operation and for revocation of licenses
5 and abrogating regulations.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. Section 5(c), (d) and (e) of the act of July 10,
9 1981 (P.L.214, No.67), known as the Bingo Law, amended December
10 15, 1982 (P.L.1299, No.293) and February 12, 1988 (P.L.76,
11 No.14), is amended to read:
12 Section 5. Rules for licensing and operation.
13 * * *
14 (c) Operation.--Each licensed association shall comply with
15 the following restrictions and rules governing the operation of
16 bingo:
17 (1) No person under the age of 18 shall be permitted to
18 play bingo unless accompanied by an adult.
1 (2) No association shall conduct bingo more than twice
2 in any one week, except an association shall be permitted to
3 conduct the game of bingo for a period not to exceed ten days
4 at the association's exposition, carnival or fair site in
5 addition to the regularly scheduled games.
6 (3) Prizes awarded shall not exceed a value of $250 for
7 any one game of bingo, except for jackpot games which shall
8 not exceed a value of $2,000 for one such game. In addition,
9 no more than $4,000 in prizes shall be awarded in any
10 calendar day.
11 (4) Only associations licensed to conduct bingo shall be
12 permitted to advertise their bingo games. Such advertisements
13 shall contain the date, time, location, whether cash or
14 merchandise prizes will be awarded and the name of the
15 association licensed to conduct the bingo game and the name
16 of the individual in charge of the operation of the game. An
17 association shall not advertise the prizes or their dollar
18 value which will be awarded nor shall they advertise a
19 guaranteed prize dollar value.
20 [(5) The association shall own the equipment used in
21 playing bingo or shall sign a written agreement leasing the
22 equipment from another licensed association for a fee which
23 is not determined by the amount of receipts realized from the
24 playing of bingo or the number of people attending bingo
25 games. Joint ownership of bingo equipment shall be permitted
26 only if both owners of the equipment are licensed
27 associations. This paragraph shall not apply to associations
28 contracting charitable organizations or outside operators to
29 conduct bingo at expositions, carnivals or fairs.]
30 (6) The association shall own both the premises upon
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1 which bingo is played and the personal property used in the
2 conduct of the game, or if it does not, the association shall
3 sign a written agreement leasing such premises or personal
4 property from the owner thereof [for a fee which is not
5 determined by either the amount of receipts realized from the
6 playing of bingo or the number of people attending bingo
7 games]. An association shall not lease such premises or
8 personal property from any person who has been convicted of a
9 felony or a violation of this act.
10 (7) Each association shall keep written records of the
11 moneys and merchandise collected and distributed for each day
12 they conduct bingo. These records shall indicate the total
13 proceeds collected, the total prize money distributed, the
14 total value of all merchandise awarded as a prize and the
15 amount of moneys paid as rentals or wages and to whom such
16 rentals or wages were paid. All prizes awarded having a value
17 greater than $250 shall be specifically described in the
18 association's records.
19 (8) Each association shall deposit with a financial
20 institution all proceeds for each day's bingo game in an
21 account in the association's name. This deposit shall be made
22 before any of the proceeds may be used for any other purpose,
23 except for payment of prize money and compensation to members
24 employed in the operation of the game.
25 (9) No association shall permit any person [who is not a
26 bona fide member of the association or] who has been
27 convicted of a felony or a violation of this act to manage,
28 set up, supervise or participate in the operation of the
29 association's bingo games. Nothing contained in this act
30 shall be construed to prohibit individuals under 18 years of
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1 age from participating in the operation of the game and being
2 compensated therefor if written permission is obtained from
3 their parent or guardian.
4 (10) Associations which obtain a license for the purpose
5 of conducting bingo at an exposition, carnival or fair for a
6 period not exceeding ten days shall be permitted to contract
7 a charitable organization to manage, set up, supervise or
8 participate in the operation of the bingo game provided only
9 merchandise prizes are awarded. Only bona fide members of the
10 contracted charitable organization shall be permitted to
11 participate in the operation of the bingo game. If no
12 charitable organizations are available, the association may
13 contract an outside operator to conduct the game for
14 merchandise at the exposition, carnival or fair site. The
15 provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed to allow
16 bingo games to be ordinarily carried out on a commercial
17 basis in this Commonwealth.
18 (11) No person shall participate in the operation of
19 bingo games on more than four days in any calendar week,
20 which games may be operated by no more than two different
21 licensed associations. This provision shall not apply to
22 persons engaged in the operation of bingo for merchandise at
23 expositions, carnivals or fairs not exceeding ten days in
24 duration.
25 (12) No supplier of merchandise nor any person who has
26 been convicted of a felony or a violation of this act shall
27 have a pecuniary interest in the operation or proceeds of the
28 bingo game.
29 (d) Application for license.--Each association shall apply
30 to the licensing authority for a license on a form to be
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1 prescribed by the Secretary of the Commonwealth. Said form shall
2 contain an affidavit to be affirmed by the executive officer or
3 secretary of the association stating that:
4 (1) No person under the age of 18 will be permitted by
5 the association to play bingo unless accompanied by an adult.
6 (2) The facility in which any game of bingo is to be
7 played does have adequate means of ingress and egress and
8 adequate sanitary facilities available in the area.
9 [(3) The association is the sole or joint owner with a
10 licensed association of the equipment used in playing bingo
11 or it leases the equipment from another licensed association
12 under a written agreement for a fee which is not determined
13 by the amount of receipts realized from the playing of bingo
14 or the number of people attending bingo games. This paragraph
15 shall not apply to associations contracting with charitable
16 organizations or outside operators to conduct bingo at
17 expositions, carnivals or fairs.]
18 (4) The association is the owner of both the premises
19 upon which bingo is played and the personal property used in
20 the conduct of the game or, if it is not, that the
21 association is not leasing such premises or personal property
22 from the owner thereof under an oral agreement, [nor is it
23 leasing such premises or personal property from the owner
24 thereof under a written agreement at a rental which is
25 determined by either the amount of receipts realized from the
26 playing of bingo or the number of people attending bingo
27 games,] nor is it leasing such premises or personal property
28 from a person who has been convicted of a felony or a
29 violation of this act.
30 (5) The association will not conduct the playing of
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1 bingo more than twice per week in any one week, except those
2 associations conducting bingo at expositions, carnivals or
3 fairs.
4 (6) The association in any calendar day will not award a
5 total of more than $4,000 in prizes.
6 (7) The association is a nonprofit association as
7 defined in this act.
8 (e) Limitation on compensation.--[No person may be employed
9 in the operation or the actual running of a bingo game for
10 compensation greater than $50 per day, except employees of
11 outside operators under section 5(c)(10), and any person
12 compensated] Any person employed in the operation or the actual
13 running of a bingo game shall be paid individually by check or
14 by cash, in which case the payee shall sign a written receipt
15 therefor. In addition, no person shall receive compensation from
16 more than one source for services rendered in the operation of a
17 bingo game.
18 * * *
19 Section 2. Section 6(a) of the act, amended December 15,
20 1982 (P.L.1299, No.293), is amended to read:
21 Section 6. Revocation of licenses.
22 (a) Grounds.--The licensing authority shall revoke or refuse
23 to renew the license of any association whenever the district
24 attorney finds upon investigation that:
25 (1) Any of the funds derived from the operation of the
26 game of bingo are used for any purpose which does not support
27 the nonprofit purposes of the association.
28 (2) Any person under the age of 18 unaccompanied by an
29 adult is playing bingo as herein defined.
30 (3) The facility in which any game of bingo is played
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1 does not have adequate means of ingress and egress or does
2 not have adequate sanitary facilities available in the area.
3 (4) [Greater compensation than is herein authorized has
4 been paid to or received by any person, or that] That a
5 person or persons other than those authorized in section 5
6 have been involved in managing, setting up, operating or
7 running the game.
8 (5) The association conducts bingo using bingo equipment
9 [which it does not own solely or jointly with another
10 licensed association or] which it leases in violation of the
11 statement contained in its license application provided by
12 section 5(d)(3).
13 (6) The association conducts bingo upon premises which
14 it does not own or with personal property it does not own and
15 is either:
16 (i) leasing such premises or personal property used
17 in the conduct of the game from the owner thereof under
18 an oral agreement;
19 [(ii) leasing such premises or personal property
20 from the owner thereof under a written agreement at a
21 rental which is determined by either the amount of
22 receipts realized from the playing of bingo or the number
23 of people attending bingo games;] or
24 (iii) leasing such premises or personal property
25 from a person who has been convicted of a felony or a
26 violation of this act.
27 (7) False or erroneous information was provided in the
28 original notarized application.
29 (8) An association has been convicted of a violation of
30 this act as evidenced by a certified record of the
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1 conviction.
2 * * *
3 Section 3. All regulations or parts of regulations are
4 hereby abrogated insofar as they are inconsistent with this act.
5 Section 4. All other acts and parts of acts are repealed
6 insofar as they are inconsistent with this act.
7 Section 5. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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