Senate Bill sb0182e1

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  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to bingo; providing a short

  3         title; amending s. 849.0931, F.S.; defining the

  4         terms "instant bingo" and "deal"; providing

  5         rules for the operation of instant bingo games;

  6         providing penalties; providing an effective

  7         date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the "Evelyn

12  Wiesman-Price Act."

13         Section 2.  Subsections (1), (2), (5), (7), (8), (9),

14  (10), and (11) of section 849.0931, Florida Statutes, are

15  amended, present subsection (13) of that section is renumbered

16  as subsection (14), and a new subsection (13) is added to that

17  section, to read:

18         849.0931  Bingo authorized; conditions for conduct;

19  permitted uses of proceeds; limitations.--

20         (1)  As used in this section:

21         (a)  "Bingo game" means and refers to the activity,

22  commonly known as "bingo," in which participants pay a sum of

23  money for the use of one or more bingo cards.  When the game

24  commences, numbers are drawn by chance, one by one, and

25  announced. The players cover or mark those numbers on the

26  bingo cards which they have purchased until a player receives

27  a given order of numbers in sequence that has been

28  preannounced for that particular game.  This player calls out

29  "bingo" and is declared the winner of a predetermined prize.

30  More than one game may be played upon a bingo card, and

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    CS for CS for SB 182                           First Engrossed



  1  numbers called for one game may be used for a succeeding game

  2  or games.

  3         (b)  "Bingo card" means and refers to the flat piece of

  4  paper or thin pasteboard employed by players engaged in the

  5  game of bingo.  The bingo card shall have not fewer than 24

  6  playing numbers printed on it.  These playing numbers shall

  7  range from 1 through 75, inclusive.  More than one set of

  8  bingo numbers may be printed on any single piece of paper.

  9         (c)  "Charitable, nonprofit, or veterans' organization"

10  means an organization which has qualified for exemption from

11  federal income tax as an exempt organization under the

12  provisions of s. 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954

13  or s. 528 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

14  which is engaged in charitable, civic, community, benevolent,

15  religious, or scholastic works or other similar activities;

16  and which has been in existence and active for a period of 3

17  years or more.

18         (d)  "Deal" means a separate set or package of not more

19  than 4,000 instant bingo tickets in which the predetermined

20  minimum prize payout is at least 65 percent of the total

21  receipts from the sale of the entire deal.

22         (e)  "Instant bingo" means a game that is played using

23  tickets by which a player wins a prize by opening and removing

24  a cover from the ticket to reveal a set of numbers, letters,

25  objects, or patterns, some of which have been predesignated in

26  advance as prize winners.

27         (f)(d)  "Objects" means a set of 75 balls or other

28  precision shapes that are imprinted with letters and numbers

29  in such a way that numbers 1 through 15 are marked with the

30  letter "B," numbers 16 through 30 are marked with the letter

31  "I," numbers 31 through 45 are marked with the letter "N,"


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  1  numbers 46 through 60 are marked with the letter "G," and

  2  numbers 61 through 75 are marked with the letter "O."

  3         (g)(e)  "Rack" means the container in which the objects

  4  are placed after being drawn and announced.

  5         (h)(f)  "Receptacle" means the container from which the

  6  objects are drawn or ejected.

  7         (i)(g)  "Session" means a designated set of games

  8  played in a day or part of a day.

  9         (2)(a)  None of the provisions of this chapter shall be

10  construed to prohibit or prevent charitable, nonprofit, or

11  veterans' organizations engaged in charitable, civic,

12  community, benevolent, religious, or scholastic works or other

13  similar endeavors, which organizations have been in existence

14  and active for a period of 3 years or more, from conducting

15  bingo games or instant bingo, provided the entire proceeds

16  derived from the conduct of such games, less actual business

17  expenses for articles designed for and essential to the

18  operation, conduct, and playing of bingo or instant bingo, are

19  donated by such organizations to the endeavors mentioned

20  above. In no case may the net proceeds from the conduct of

21  such games be used for any other purpose whatsoever.  The

22  proceeds derived from the conduct of bingo games or instant

23  bingo shall not be considered solicitation of public

24  donations.

25         (b)  It is the express intent of the Legislature that

26  no charitable, nonprofit, or veterans' organization serve as a

27  sponsor of a bingo game or instant bingo conducted by another,

28  but such organization may only be directly involved in the

29  conduct of such a game as provided in this act.

30         (5)  Except for instant bingo prizes, which are limited

31  to those displayed on the ticket, no jackpot may shall exceed


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  1  the value of $250 in actual money or its equivalent, and there

  2  shall be no more than three jackpots in any one session of

  3  bingo.

  4         (7)  Except for instant bingo prizes, which are limited

  5  to those displayed on the ticket, there shall be no more than

  6  three jackpots on any one day of play.  All other game prizes

  7  may shall not exceed $50.

  8         (8)  Each person involved in the conduct of any bingo

  9  game or instant bingo must be a resident of the community

10  where the organization is located and a bona fide member of

11  the organization sponsoring such game and may not be

12  compensated in any way for operation of such bingo game.  When

13  bingo games or instant bingo are conducted by a charitable,

14  nonprofit, or veterans' organization, the organization

15  conducting the bingo games shall be required to designate up

16  to three members of that organization to be in charge of the

17  games, one of whom shall be present during the entire session

18  at which the bingo games are conducted.  The organization

19  conducting the bingo games is responsible for posting a

20  notice, which notice states the name of the organization and

21  the designated member or members, in a conspicuous place on

22  the premises at which the session is held or instant bingo is

23  played.  In no event may a caller in a bingo game be a

24  participant in that bingo game.

25         (9)  Every charitable, nonprofit, or veterans'

26  organization involved in the conduct of a bingo game or

27  instant bingo must be located in the county, or within a

28  15-mile radius of, where the bingo game or instant bingo is

29  located.

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  1         (10)(a)  No one under 18 years of age shall be allowed

  2  to play any bingo game or instant bingo or be involved in the

  3  conduct of a bingo game or instant bingo in any way.

  4         (b)  Any organization conducting bingo open to the

  5  public may refuse entry to any person who is objectionable or

  6  undesirable to the sponsoring organization, but such refusal

  7  of entry shall not be on the basis of race, creed, color,

  8  religion, sex, national origin, marital status, or physical

  9  handicap.

10         (11)  Bingo games or instant bingo may be held only on

11  the following premises:

12         (a)  Property owned by the charitable, nonprofit, or

13  veterans' organization.

14         (b)  Property owned by the charitable, nonprofit, or

15  veterans' organization that will benefit by the proceeds.

16         (c)  Property leased for a period of not less than 1

17  year by a charitable, nonprofit, or veterans' organization,

18  providing the lease or rental agreement does not provide for

19  the payment of a percentage of the proceeds generated at such

20  premises to the lessor or any other party and providing the

21  rental rate for such premises does not exceed the rental rates

22  charged for similar premises in the same locale.

23         (d)  Property owned by a municipality or a county when

24  the governing authority has, by appropriate ordinance or

25  resolution, specifically authorized the use of such property

26  for the conduct of such games.

27         (e)  With respect to bingo games conducted by a

28  condominium association, a cooperative association, a

29  homeowners' association as defined in s. 720.301, a mobile

30  home owners' association, a group of residents of a mobile

31  home park as defined in chapter 723, or a group of residents


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  1  of a mobile home park or recreational vehicle park as defined

  2  in chapter 513, property owned by the association, property

  3  owned by the residents of the mobile home park or recreational

  4  vehicle park, or property which is a common area located

  5  within the condominium, mobile home park, or recreational

  6  vehicle park.

  7         (13)(a)  Instant bingo tickets must be sold at the

  8  price printed on the ticket by the manufacturer, not to exceed

  9  $1. Discounts may not be given for purchases of multiple

10  tickets, nor may tickets be given away free of charge.

11         (b)  The sets of numbers, letters, objects, or patterns

12  that have been predesignated by the manufacturer as winning

13  combinations for a deal of instant bingo tickets must be

14  posted before the sale of any tickets from that deal.

15         (c)  Each instant bingo ticket in a deal must bear the

16  same serial number and there may not be more than one serial

17  number in each deal. No serial number printed on a deal of

18  instant bingo tickets may be repeated by the manufacturer on

19  the same form for a period of 3 years.

20         (d)  The serial number for each deal must be clearly

21  and legibly placed on the outside of each deal's package, box,

22  or other container.

23         (e)  Instant bingo tickets manufactured, sold, or

24  distributed in this state must comply with the standards on

25  pull-tabs of the North American Gaming Regulators Association,

26  as amended from time to time.

27         (f)  Except as provided under paragraph (e), an instant

28  bingo ticket manufactured, sold or distributed in this state

29  must:

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  1         1.  Be manufactured so that it is not possible to

  2  identify whether it is a winning or losing instant bingo

  3  ticket until it has been opened by the player as intended;

  4         2.  Be manufactured using at least a two-ply paper

  5  stock construction so that the instant bingo ticket is opaque;

  6         3.  Have the form number, the deal's serial number and

  7  the name or logo of the manufacturer conspicuously printed on

  8  the face or cover of the instant bingo ticket; and

  9         4.  Have a form of winner protection that allows the

10  organization to verify, after the instant bingo ticket has

11  been played, that the winning instant bingo ticket presented

12  for payment is an authentic winning instant bingo ticket for

13  the deal in play. The manufacturer shall provide a written

14  description of the winner protection with each deal of instant

15  bingo tickets.

16         (g)  Each manufacturer and distributor that sells or

17  distributes instant bingo tickets in this state to charitable,

18  nonprofit, or veterans' organizations shall prepare an invoice

19  that contains the following information:

20         1.  Date of sale;

21         2.  Form number and the serial number of each deal

22  sold;

23         3.  Number of instant bingo tickets in each deal sold;

24         4.  Name of distributor or organization to whom each

25  deal is sold; and

26         5.  Price of each deal sold.

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28  All information contained on an invoice must be maintained by

29  the distributor or manufacturer for a period of 3 years.

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  1         (h)  The invoice, or a true and accurate copy thereof,

  2  must be on the premises where any deal of instant bingo

  3  tickets is stored or in play.

  4         (i)  The Department of the Lottery shall keep a list of

  5  no fewer than six qualified instant bingo ticket manufacturers

  6  that are authorized to sell instant bingo tickets within the

  7  state. No distributor or charitable, nonprofit, or veterans'

  8  organizations shall purchase, distribute, or sell instant

  9  bingo tickets manufactured by any manufacturer other than

10  those qualified instant bingo ticket manufacturers listed by

11  the Department of the Lottery.

12         (14)(13)  Any organization or other person who

13  willfully and knowingly violates any provision of this section

14  is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as

15  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.  For a second or

16  subsequent offense, the organization or other person is guilty

17  of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s.

18  775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

19         Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.

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