Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1404
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì914396IÎ914396                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/25/2025           .                                
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       The Committee on Regulated Industries (Bradley) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Between lines 99 and 100
    4  insert:
    5         Section 2. Present subsections (8) and (9) of section
    6  546.10, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (9)
    7  and (10), respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to
    8  that section, to read:
    9         546.10 Amusement games or machines.—
   10         (8)(a)1. Before purchasing or installing a game or machine
   11  on the premises of any veterans’ service organization granted a
   12  federal charter under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division, a
   13  department, a post, or a chapter of such organization, for which
   14  an alcoholic beverage license has been issued, and the veterans’
   15  service organization is in doubt about whether a machine meets
   16  the definition of an amusement machine under this section, the
   17  organization may petition the Florida Gaming Control Commission
   18  for a declaratory statement under s. 120.565 on whether the
   19  operation of the game or machine would be authorized under this
   20  section or would be a violation of this section or chapter 849.
   21  A game or machine awaiting a declaratory statement from the
   22  commission may not be purchased or installed until the
   23  declaratory statement is issued.
   24         2. If there is a game or machine currently on the premises
   25  of any veterans’ service organization granted a federal charter
   26  under Title 36, U.S.C., or a division, a department, a post, or
   27  a chapter of such organization, for which an alcoholic beverage
   28  license has been issued and the veterans’ service organization
   29  is in doubt about whether a machine meets the definition of an
   30  amusement machine under this section, the organization may
   31  petition the commission for a declaratory statement pursuant to
   32  s. 120.565 on whether the operation of the game or machine would
   33  be authorized under this section or would be a violation of this
   34  section or chapter 849. If the game, machine, premises, or
   35  organization is the subject of an ongoing criminal
   36  investigation, the organization may not petition the commission
   37  for a declaratory statement under this subsection.
   38         3. The commission shall issue a declaratory statement
   39  pursuant to this subsection within 60 days after receiving a
   40  petition requesting such statement. The commission may not deny
   41  a petition that is validly requested pursuant to this subsection
   42  and 120.565.
   43         (b) A petition made under this subsection must provide
   44  enough information for the commission to issue the declaratory
   45  statement and must be accompanied by the exact specifications
   46  for the type of game or machine that the organization will
   47  purchase or install or currently has on the premises. The
   48  declaratory statement is valid only for the game or machine for
   49  which it is requested and is invalid if the specifications for
   50  the game or the machine have been changed.
   51         (c) The declaratory statement is binding on the commission
   52  and may be introduced in any subsequent proceedings as evidence
   53  of a good faith effort to comply with this section or chapter
   54  849.
   55         (d) This subsection does not prevent the commission or any
   56  other criminal justice agency as defined in s. 943.045 from
   57  detecting, apprehending, and arresting a person for any alleged
   58  violation of chapter 24, part II of chapter 285, this chapter,
   59  chapter 550, chapter 551, or chapter 849, or any rule adopted
   60  pursuant thereto, or of any law of this state.
   61         (e) This subsection does not require an owner or an
   62  operator of an amusement game or machine under this section to
   63  request or obtain a declaratory statement in order to operate
   64  pursuant to this section.
   65  
   66  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   67  And the title is amended as follows:
   68         Delete line 5
   69  and insert:
   70         the Florida Gaming Control Commission; amending s.
   71         546.10, F.S.; authorizing certain organizations to
   72         petition the petition before purchasing, installing,
   73         or operating a game or machine on its premises before
   74         petitioning for and being issued a specified
   75         declaratory statement from the Florida Gaming Control
   76         Commission if the organization is unsure if such game
   77         or machine is an amusement machine; prohibiting such
   78         organizations from purchasing or installing a game or
   79         machine until an outstanding declaratory statement is
   80         issued; prohibiting such organizations from seeking a
   81         declaratory statement if the game or machine in
   82         question is the subject of a criminal investigation;
   83         requiring the commission to issue a declaratory
   84         statement within a specified timeframe; prohibiting
   85         the commission from denying a petition if it was
   86         validly requested; specifying what information must be
   87         included in a request for a declaratory statement;
   88         providing that the declaratory statement is valid only
   89         for the game or machine for which it is requested;
   90         providing that the declaratory statement is invalid if
   91         the specifications for the game or machine have been
   92         changed; providing that the declaratory statement is
   93         binding on the commission and may be introduced as
   94         evidence in subsequent proceedings; providing
   95         construction; amending s.