Loosen Charity Bingo Rules

Section 1. Subdivisions 4 and 14 of section 186 of the general municipal law, subdivision 4 as amended by chapter 574 of the laws of 1978 and subdivision 14 as amended by chapter 531 of the laws of 2011, are amended and a new subdivision 4-a is added to read as follows:

4. "Authorized organization" shall mean and include any bona fide religious or charitable organization or bona fide educational, fraternal or service organization or bona fide organization of veterans [or], volunteer [firemen] firefighters or volunteer ambulance workers, which by its charter, certificate of incorporation, constitution, or act of the legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article, provided that each shall operate without profit to its members, and provided that each such organization has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article for a period of three years [immediatley] immediately prior to applying for a license under this article.

No organization shall be deemed an authorized organization which is formed primarily for the purpose of conducting games of chance and which does not devote at least seventy-five percent of its activities to other than conducting games of chance. No political party shall be deemed an authorized organization.

4-a. "Auxiliary member" shall mean a bona fide member of an organization or association which is auxiliary to an authorized organization licensed pursuant to this article; or a bona fide member of an organization or association of which an authorized organization licensed pursuant to this article is an auxiliary; or a bona fide member of an organ-

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

LBD04857-01-7

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ization or association which is affiliated with an authorized organization licensed pursuant to this article by being, with it, auxiliary to another organization or association.

14. "One occasion" shall mean the successive operations of any one single type of game of chance which results in the awarding of a series of prizes amounting to five hundred dollars or four hundred dollars during any one license period, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article, as the case may be. For purposes of the game of chance known as a merchandise wheel or a raffle, "one occasion" shall mean the successive operations of any one such merchandise wheel or raffle for which the limit on a series of prizes provided by subdivision six of section one hundred eighty-nine of this article shall apply. For purposes of the game of chance known as a bell jar, "one occasion" shall mean the successive operation of any one such bell jar, seal card, event game, coin board, or merchandise board which results in the awarding of a series of prizes amounting to [three] ten thousand dollars. For the purposes of the game of chance known as raffle "one occasion" shall mean a calendar year during which successive operations of such game are conducted.

§ 2. Subdivisions 5, 6, 8 and 10 of section 189 of the general municipal law, subdivisions 5 and 8 as amended by chapter 434 of the laws of 2016, subdivision 6 as amended by chapter 302 of the laws of 2010 and subdivision 10 as amended by chapter 574 of the laws of 1978, are amended to read as follows:

5. No single prize awarded by games of chance other than raffle shall exceed the sum or value of [three] four hundred dollars, except that for merchandise wheels, no single prize shall exceed the sum or value of [two] three hundred [fifty] dollars. No single prize awarded by raffle shall exceed the sum or value of three hundred thousand dollars. No single wager shall exceed six dollars and for bell jars, coin boards, or merchandise boards, no single prize shall exceed five hundred dollars provided, however, that such limitation shall not apply to the amount of money or value paid by the participant in a raffle in return for a ticket or other receipt. For coin boards and merchandise boards, the value of a prize shall be determined by its costs to the authorized organization or, if donated, its fair market value.

6. No authorized organization shall award a series of prizes consisting of cash or of merchandise with an aggregate value in excess of ten thousand dollars during the successive operations of any one merchandise wheel, [and three thousand dollars during the successive operations of any] bell jar, coin board, or merchandise board. No series of prizes awarded by raffle shall have an aggregate value in excess of five hundred thousand dollars. For coin boards and merchandise boards, the value of a prize shall be determined by its cost to the authorized organization or, if donated, its fair market value.

8. Except for merchandise wheels and raffles, no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more than [four] five hundred dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts five single types of games of chance during any one license period. Except for merchandise wheels, raffles and bell jars, no series of prizes on any one occasion shall aggregate more than five hundred dollars when the licensed authorized organization conducts less than five single types of games of chance, exclusive of merchandise wheels, raffles and bell jars, during any one license period. No authorized organization shall award by raffle prizes with an aggregate value in excess of three million dollars during any one license period.

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10. No person except a bona fide member of the licensed authorized organization or an auxiliary member of such organization shall participate in the management of such games[; no person except a bona fide member of the licensed authorized organization, its auxiliary or affiliated organization, shall participate in the operation of such game, as set forth in section one hundred ninety-five-c of this article].

§ 3. Paragraph (b) of subdivision 1 of section 190 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 574 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:

(b) In each application there shall be designated not less than [four] three bona fide members of the applicant organization under whom the game or games of chance will be managed and to the application shall be appended a statement executed by the members so designated, that they will be responsible for the management of such games in accordance with the terms of the license, the rules and regulations of the board, this article and the applicable local laws or ordinances.

§ 4. Paragraph (a) of subdivision 2 of section 190-a of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 400 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:

(a) For the purposes of this section, "authorized organization" shall mean and include any bona fide religious or charitable organization or bona fide educational, fraternal or service organization or bona fide organization of veterans [or], volunteer [firefighter] firefighters or volunteer ambulance workers, which by its charter, certificate of incorporation, constitution, or act of the legislature, shall have among its dominant purposes one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article, provided that each shall operate without profit to its members, and provided that each such organization has engaged in serving one or more of the lawful purposes as defined in this article for a period of three years immediately prior to being granted the filing requirement exemption contained in subdivision one of this section.

§ 5. Subdivision 3 of section 190-a of the general municipal law, as added by chapter 400 of the laws of 2005, is amended to read as follows:

3. No person under the age of eighteen shall be permitted to play, operate or assist in any raffle conducted pursuant to this section; provided, however, a member or auxiliary member over the age of sixteen years, but under the age of eighteen years, shall be permitted to assist in any raffle conducted pursuant to this section, if accompanied by an adult.

§ 6. Subdivision 3 of section 194 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 550 of the laws of 1994, is amended to read as follows:

3. [Service of alcoholic beverages.] Subject to the applicable provisions of the alcoholic beverage control law, beer and wine may be offered for sale during the conduct of games of chance on games of chance premises as such premises are defined in subdivision nineteen of section one hundred eighty-six of this article; provided, however, that nothing herein shall be construed to limit the offering for sale of any other alcoholic beverage in areas other than the games of chance premises or the sale of any other alcoholic beverage in premises where only the games of chance known as bell jar or raffles are conducted.

§ 7. Section 195 of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 461 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows:

§ 195. Sunday; conduct of games on. Except as provided in section one hundred ninety-five-b of this article, [no] games of chance [shall] may be conducted under any license issued under this article on the first

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day of the week, commonly known and designated as Sunday, unless it shall be otherwise provided in the license issued for the conducting thereof, pursuant to the provisions of a local law or an ordinance duly adopted by the governing body of the municipality wherein the license is issued, [authorizing] prohibiting the conduct of games of chance under this article on that day [only between the hours of noon and midnight]. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section no games of chance shall be conducted on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day.

§ 8. Section 195-a of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 574 of the laws of 1978, is amended to read as follows:

§ 195-a. Participation by persons under eighteen. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be permitted to play any game or games of chance conducted pursuant to any license issued under this article. Persons under the age of eighteen years may be permitted to attend games of chance at the discretion of the games of chance licensee. No person under the age of eighteen years shall be permitted to operate any game of chance conducted pursuant to any license issued under this article or to assist therein; provided, however, that a member or auxiliary member who is under the age of eighteen years and who is sixteen years of age or older shall be permitted to assist in the operation of any game of chance if accompanied by an adult.

§ 9. Section 195-b of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 252 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

§ 195-b. Frequency of games. No game or games of chance, shall be conducted under any license issued under this article more often than [twelve] eighteen times in any calendar year. No particular premises shall be used for the conduct of games of chance on more than twentyfour license periods during any one calendar year. Games shall be conducted only between the hours of noon and midnight on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and only between the hours of noon on Friday and two A.M. Saturday, and only between the hours of noon on Saturday and two A.M. Sunday. The two A.M. closing period shall also apply to a legal holiday. The above restrictions shall not apply when only the games of chance known as bell jar and/or raffle are conducted.

§ 10. Section 195-c of the general municipal law, as amended by chapter 252 of the laws of 1998, is amended to read as follows:

§ 195-c. [1.] Persons operating games; equipment; expenses; compensation. 1. No person shall operate any game of chance under any license issued under this article except a bona fide member or auxiliary member of the authorized organization to which the license is issued[, or a bona fide member of an organization or association which is an auxiliary to the licensee or a bona fide member of an organization or association of which such licensee is an auxiliary or a bona fide member of an organization or association which is affiliated with the licensee by being, with it, auxiliary to another organization or association]. Nothing herein shall be construed to limit the number of games of chance licensees for whom such persons may operate games of chance nor to prevent non-members from assisting the licensee in any activity other than managing or operating games. No game of chance shall be conducted with any equipment except such as shall be owned or leased by the authorized organization so licensed or used without payment of any compensation therefor by the licensee. However, in no event shall bell jar tickets be transferred from one authorized organization to another, with or without payment of any compensation thereof. The head or heads of the authorized organization shall upon request certify, under oath, that the persons operating any game of chance are bona fide or auxiliary

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