Two local lawmakers helped defeat amendments which would have
changed the state’s bingo laws.

Amendments to the legislation – House Bills 10 and 11 – were
introduced in 2005, and would have forced local volunteer fire
departments to spend more money in the operation of their
games.

State Reps. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, and Dan Surra,
D-Kersey, both stood up in support of defeating the amendments,
speaking on the House floor on Tuesday about the subject.

“This time we were able to nip it in the bud a little earlier,”
Causer said Thursday afternoon. “We were able to gather support to
defeat the amendment.”

The legislation called for a hike in fees for non-profit
organizations to obtain licenses, additional prize value limits and
reporting standards and further education for bingo operators,
among other provisions.

It would have hurt the local fire departments, which fight to
retain membership and funding streams, in part, due to the opening
of casinos across the border in New York state.

“I argued on the floor how these amendments could hurt volunteer
fire departments in particular,” Causer said. “These organizations
are struggling. They don’t need these additional fees, regulations
and government regulation.”

According to House Bill 10, which would have amended the Bingo
Law, license fees for non-profit organizations would have risen
from $100 to $300 and licenses would have been issued on a biennial
basis instead of yearly. The same would have held true for small
games of chance, where a limited occasion license would have risen
from $10 annually to $30 biennially.

Meanwhile, the prize value limit for one day would have risen
from $4,000 to $8,000, and each association which conducts bingo
activities would have been required to report all prize awards to
the state Department of Revenue as required by the Internal Revenue
Service.

The legislation would also have called for bingo operators who
conduct 30 or more times a year to attend eight hours of bingo
education seminars required by the Department of Revenue.

In House Bill 11, changes would have included a hike in the
maximum allowable prize limit for a small game of chance from $500
to $1,000, and the replacement of the $5,000 weekly prize limit
with a $20,000 weekly cash value prize limit.

Causer said the current legislation is now waiting on third
consideration, however, amendments can’t be attached to the bill
during that time, essentially meaning the amendments can’t be added
to it again.

“I expect the final version of the bill to be moved to the
Senate,” Causer said.