Bill Text: NJ A2753 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Allows certain organizations authorized to conduct bingo or raffles to use up to 40 percent of net proceeds for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-05-20 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State Government Committee [A2753 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2753-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JACK CONNERS
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
SYNOPSIS
Allows certain organizations authorized to conduct bingo or raffles to use up to 40 percent of net proceeds for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning bingo and raffles and amending and supplementing P.L.1954, c.5, and P.L.1954, c.6, and repealing P.L.2002, c.115.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1954, c.5 (C.5:8-51) is amended to read as follows:
2. a. It shall be lawful for the governing body of any municipality, at any time after this act shall become operative within such municipality and except when prohibited by this act, to license bona fide organizations or associations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, churches or religious congregations and religious organizations, charitable, educational and fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, senior citizen associations and clubs, officially recognized volunteer fire companies, and officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squads, to hold and operate the specific kind of game or games of chance commonly known as a raffle or raffles played by drawing for prizes or the allotment of prizes by chance, by the selling of shares or tickets or rights to participate in such game or games and by conducting the game or games accordingly, when the entire net proceeds of such games of chance are to be devoted to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses or to such other purposes as provided in section 4 of P.L. , c. . (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and in the case of senior citizen associations and clubs to the support of these organizations, and for any such organization or association, church, congregation, society, club, company or squad, when so licensed or without any license when and as hereinafter prescribed, to hold, operate and conduct such game of chance pursuant to this act and such license, in such municipality and to sell shares or tickets or rights to participate in such game or games of chance therein and in any other municipality which shall have adopted this act and under such conditions and regulations for the supervision and conduct thereof as shall be prescribed by rules and regulations duly adopted from time to time by the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, hereinafter designated as the control commission, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, but only when the entire net proceeds thereof are devoted to the uses aforesaid and for any person or persons to participate in and play such games of chance conducted under any such license.
b. The control commission may adopt regulations authorizing
licensees to hold events known as:
"armchair races" at which wagers are placed on the outcome of previously-filmed horse races and wagerers do not know the results in advance, when the prize awarded consists of merchandise or raffle tickets only, and not cash; and
"casino nights" at which players use chips or script purchased from the licensee to wager in games of chance known as blackjack, under/over, beat-the-dealer, chuck-a-luck, craps, roulette, bingo or similar games approved by the commission, when the chips or script are redeemable for merchandise or raffle tickets only, and not for cash.
The regulations shall establish the frequency with which these events may be held, the rules of the games, the specific type and value of prizes which may be offered, the qualifications of the individuals conducting the games and other requirements which the commission may deem pertinent.
c. No license shall be required for the holding, operating or conducting of a raffle for a door prize of donated merchandise of the value of less than $50.00 for which no extra charge is made at an assemblage at which no other game of chance is held, operated or conducted, if the proceeds of such assemblage are devoted to the uses described in this section.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.17, s.2)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1954, c.6 (C.5:8-25) is amended to read as follows:
2. It shall be lawful for the governing body of any municipality, at any time after this act shall become operative within such municipality and except when prohibited by this act, to license bona fide organizations or associations of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, churches or religious congregations and religious organizations, charitable, educational and fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, senior citizen associations and clubs, officially recognized volunteer fire companies, and officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squads, to hold and operate games of chance of, and restricted to, the specific kind of game of chance commonly known as bingo or lotto played for prizes with cards bearing numbers or other designations, five or more in one line, the holder covering numbers, as objects, similarly numbered, are drawn from a receptacle and the game being won by the person who first covers a previously designated arrangement of numbers on such a card, by selling shares or tickets or rights to participate in such games and by conducting the games accordingly, when the entire net proceeds of such games of chance are to be devoted to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses or to such other purposes as provided in section 3 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and in the case of senior citizen associations or clubs, to the support of such organizations, and for any such organization, association, church, congregation, society, club, fire company, first aid or rescue squad, or senior citizen association or club, when so licensed, to hold, operate and conduct such games of chance by its active members pursuant to this act and such license, and under such conditions and regulations for the supervision and conduct thereof as shall be prescribed by rules and regulations duly adopted from time to time by the Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, hereinafter designated as the control commission, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, but only when the entire net proceeds thereof are devoted to the uses aforesaid and for any person or persons to participate in and play such games of chance conducted under any such license.
The control commission shall, pursuant to regulations promulgated by it, authorize the use in conducting bingo or lotto of electronic devices that are the functional equivalent of the cards, numbered objects, and receptacle described herein to the extent that the use of such devices is not inconsistent with any other provision of this act or the provisions of subparagraph A of the New Jersey Constitution, Article IV, Section 7, paragraph 2. Any such electronic device shall comply with specifications prescribed by the commission and shall be approved by the commission prior to use. Such devices shall not include any device into which currency, coins or tokens may be inserted or from which currency, coins or tokens, or any receipt for monetary value, can be dispensed or which, once provided to a person participating in bingo, is capable of communicating with other such devices. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as allowing electronic devices used by a qualified organization in conducting bingo or lotto to be linked to electronic devices used by any other qualified organization in conducting bingo or lotto.
(cf: P.L.2005, c.140, s.1)
3. (New section) a. A bona fide organization or association of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, church or religious congregation or religious organization, charitable, educational or fraternal organization, civic or service club, officially recognized volunteer fire company, or officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squad licensed to hold and operate the specific kind of game of chance commonly known as bingo or lotto may use up to 40 percent of the entire net proceeds of such game for the maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements of a facility owned by the licensee only if:
(1) the facility is devoted full-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses; or
(2) a portion of the facility is devoted full-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses, in which case the net proceeds may be used for the maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements of that portion of the facility so devoted; or
(3) all or a portion of the facility is devoted part-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses, in which case the net proceeds may be used for the maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements of the facility, or of that portion of a facility, so devoted to an authorized purpose for at least 70 days in the previous calendar year.
b. The use of a facility or portion thereof for an authorized purpose for at least three hours in any one day shall be sufficient to substantiate that the facility space or a portion thereof was devoted that day to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use. A reasonable amount of facility space used full-time for administrative or operational activities of the licensee, as determined by the commission by regulation, shall be considered devoted to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use provided the space is located in a facility or a portion thereof at least half of which was devoted for at least 70 days in the previous calendar year to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use.
c. Net proceeds shall not be used for compensation, benefits, or other remuneration of personnel.
d. The licensee shall document in writing how the use of the net proceeds for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements will better enable the licensee to fulfill its mission, shall retain for seven years all documents, records and receipts related to the use of net proceeds, and shall provide or make available for inspection all documents, records, receipts, or other information that the commission deems necessary.
4. (New section) a. A bona fide organization or association of veterans of any war in which the United States has been engaged, church or religious congregation or religious organization, charitable, educational or fraternal organization, civic or service club, officially recognized volunteer fire company, or officially recognized volunteer first aid or rescue squad licensed to hold and operate the specific kind of game of chance commonly known as raffle or raffles may use up to 40 percent of the entire net proceeds of such game for the maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements of a facility owned by the licensee only if:
(1) the facility is devoted full-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses; or
(2) a portion of the facility is devoted full-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses, in which case the net proceeds may be used for the maintenance, operating, expenses, or capital improvements of that portion of the facility so devoted; or
(3) all or a portion of the facility is devoted part-time to educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited uses, in which case the net proceeds may be used for the maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements of the facility, or of that portion of a facility, so devoted to an authorized purpose for at least 70 days in the previous calendar year.
b. The use of a facility or portion thereof for an authorized purpose for at least three hours in any one day shall be sufficient to substantiate that the facility space or a portion thereof was devoted that day to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use. A reasonable amount of facility space used full-time for administrative or operational activities of the licensee, as determined by the commission by regulation, shall be considered devoted to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use provided the space is located in a facility or a portion thereof at least half of which was devoted for at least 70 days in the previous calendar year to an educational, charitable, patriotic, religious or public-spirited use.
c. Net proceeds shall not be used for either compensation, benefits, or other remuneration of personnel.
d. The licensee shall document how the use of the net proceeds for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements will better enable the licensee to fulfill its mission, shall retain for seven years all documents, records and receipts related to the use of net proceeds, and shall provide or make available for inspection all documents, records, receipts or other information that the commission deems necessary.
5. Sections 1 and 2 of P.L.2002, c.115 (C.5:8-25.3 and 5:8-51.4) are hereby repealed as of December 31 of the calendar year in which voters approve an amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey permitting bona fide veterans, charitable, educational, religious, fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, volunteer fire companies and first aid and rescue squads to use up to 40 percent of the entire net proceeds from bingo or raffles for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements.
6. This act shall take effect on December 31 of the calendar year in which voters approve an amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey to permit bona fide veterans, charitable, educational, religious, fraternal organizations, civic and service clubs, volunteer fire companies and first aid and rescue squads to use up to 40 percent of the entire net proceeds from bingo or raffles for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements.
STATEMENT
This bill permits certain bona fide organizations, licensed by a municipality and registered to conduct bingo or raffles by the State Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, to use up to 40 percent of the organization's entire net proceeds from bingo or raffles for maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements to a facility owned by the licensee.
Current law provides that bona fide organizations licensed to hold and operate bingo or raffles may use the net proceeds for capital improvements to a facility owned by the licensee with certain limitations. This bill provides that up to 40 percent of net proceeds may be used by these organizations for capital improvements. In addition, the bill provides that these net proceeds may also be used for maintenance and operating expenses of a facility owned by the licensee.
The bill prohibits use of net proceeds for compensation, benefits, or personnel remuneration, and requires the organization to document in writing how use of the net proceeds for maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements will better enable the organization to fulfill its mission. The organization will be required to retain all documents, records, and receipts for seven years, and to provide or make available for inspection all documents, records, receipts, or other information that the commission deems necessary.
Under current law, senior citizens associations or clubs may use the entire net proceeds from bingo or raffles to the support of such organizations, and the bill does not change these provisions.
This bill is contingent upon the adoption by the voters of a constitutional amendment to allow organizations authorized to conduct bingo or raffles to use up to 40 percent of net proceeds for facility maintenance, operating expenses, or capital improvements.
The bill repeals P.L.2002, c.115 (C.5:8-25.3 and C.5:8-51.4) contingent upon voter approval of the constitutional amendment.
