By: Thompson of Harris (Senate Sponsor - Zaffirini) H.B. No. 2204
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 13, 2021;
May 14, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on State
Affairs; May 20, 2021, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 9, Nays 0;
May 20, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2204 By: Zaffirini
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the conduct of charitable bingo.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2001.002(19), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(19) "Nonprofit organization" means an unincorporated
association or a corporation that is incorporated or holds a
certificate of authority under Chapter 22, Business Organizations
Code [the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article 1396-1.01 et
seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)]. The organization:
(A) may not distribute any of its income to its
members, officers, or governing body, other than as reasonable
compensation for services; and
(B) must have obtained tax exempt status under
Section 501(c), Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
SECTION 2. Section 2001.103, Occupations Code, is amended
by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (f-1) and (i) to
read as follows:
(e) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), an authorized
organization that holds an annual license to conduct bingo may
receive not more than 48 [24] temporary licenses during the
12-month period following the issuance or renewal of the license.
The holder of a license that is effective for two years may receive
not more than 48 [24] temporary licenses for each 12-month period
that ends on an anniversary of the date the license was issued or
renewed.
(f-1) The commission shall provide for the on-demand
electronic issuance of a temporary license requested under this
section by the holder of a regular license.
(i) The notice requirements of Sections 2001.305(b) and (c)
do not apply to a temporary license issued to the holder of a
regular license.
SECTION 3. Sections 2001.305(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 2001.103(i), immediately
[Immediately] after issuing a license, the commission shall send a
copy of the license to the appropriate governing body. The
governing body shall file the copy of the license in a central file
containing licenses issued under this chapter.
(c) Except as provided by Section 2001.103(i), not [Not]
later than the 10th day after the date a license is issued, the
commission shall give written notice of the issuance of the license
to:
(1) the police department of the municipality in which
bingo will be conducted, if bingo is to be conducted in a
municipality; or
(2) the sheriff of the county in which bingo will be
conducted, if bingo is to be conducted outside a municipality.
SECTION 4. Section 2001.413, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 2001.413. PAYMENT [ADMISSION CHARGE] REQUIRED. Except
as provided by Section 2001.4155, a licensed authorized
organization may not offer or provide to a person the opportunity to
play bingo without payment [charge].
SECTION 5. Section 2001.420(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A person may not offer or award on a single bingo
occasion prizes with an aggregate value of more than $3,500
[$2,500] for all bingo games other than:
(1) pull-tab bingo; or
(2) bingo games that award individual prizes of $50 or
less.
SECTION 6. Section 2001.435(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) Each member of a unit shall deposit into the unit's
bingo account all funds derived from the conduct of bingo, less the
amount awarded as cash prizes under Section 2001.420(b) [Sections
2001.420(a) and (b)]. The deposit shall be made not later than the
third [second] business day after the day of the bingo occasion on
which the receipts were obtained.
SECTION 7. Sections 2001.451(b), (g), and (i), Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Section 2001.502(a), a licensed
authorized organization shall deposit in the bingo account all
funds derived from the conduct of bingo, less the amount awarded as
cash prizes under Section 2001.420(b) [Sections 2001.420(a) and
(b)]. Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), a deposit must be
made not later than the third business day after the day of the
bingo occasion on which the receipts were obtained.
(g) The bingo operations of a licensed authorized
organization must[:
[(1) result in net proceeds over the organization's
license period; or
[(2) if the organization has a two-year license,]
result in net proceeds over each 24-month [12-month] period that
ends on the second [an] anniversary of the date the [two-year]
license was issued.
(i) Prize fees [held in escrow for remittance to the
commission] are not included in the calculation of operating
capital under Subsection (h) if the prize fees are:
(1) held in escrow for remittance to:
(A) the commission; or
(B) a local government; or
(2) retained by a licensed authorized organization.
SECTION 8. Sections 2001.502(b) and (c), Occupations Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), each quarter, a
licensed authorized organization or unit that collects a prize fee
under Subsection (a) for a bingo game conducted in a county or
municipality that was entitled to receive a portion of a bingo prize
fee as of January 1, 2019, shall remit 50 percent of the amount
collected as the prize fee to the commission and shall remit or
deposit the remainder of the amount collected as the prize fee as
follows:
(1) if the county [or municipality] in which the bingo
game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize
fee and[, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize fee
to:
[(A) the county that voted to impose the fee by
that date, provided] the location at which the bingo game is
conducted:
(A) is not within the boundaries of a
municipality, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as the prize
fee to the county [that voted to impose the prize fee by that date];
or
(B) is within the boundaries of a [the]
municipality that:
(i) voted before November 1, 2019, to
impose the prize fee, remit 50 percent of the amount collected as
the prize fee in equal shares to the county and municipality [by
that date, provided the county in which the bingo game is conducted
did not vote to impose the fee by that date]; or
(ii) did not vote before November 1, 2019,
to impose the prize fee, remit 25 percent of the amount collected as
the prize fee to the county and deposit the remaining amount in the
manner described by Subdivision (3);
[(C) in equal shares, the county and the
municipality, provided each voted to impose the fee before that
date; or]
(2) if the county in which the bingo game is conducted
did not vote before November 1, 2019, to impose the prize fee and
the location at which the bingo game is conducted is within the
boundaries of a municipality that voted before November 1, 2019, to
impose the prize fee:
(A) remit 25 percent of the amount collected as
the prize fee to the municipality; and
(B) deposit the remaining amount in the manner
described by Subdivision (3); and
(3) if neither the county or municipality in which the
bingo game is conducted voted before November 1, 2019, to impose the
prize fee, deposit the remainder of the amount collected as the
prize fee in the general charitable fund of the organization or on a
pro rata basis to the general funds of the organizations comprising
the unit, as applicable, to be used for the charitable purposes of
the organization or organizations.
(c) The governing body of a county or municipality that
voted to impose a prize fee under Subsection (b) [(b)(1)] may at any
time vote to discontinue the imposition of the fee. If a county or
municipality votes on or after November 1, 2019, to discontinue the
fee, the fees to which the county or municipality, as applicable,
was entitled before the vote shall be collected by the licensed
authorized organization or unit as defined by Section 2001.431 and
deposited as provided by Subsection (b)(3) [(b)(2)].
SECTION 9. Section 2001.513(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) At any time within three years after a person is
delinquent in the payment of an amount of the fee on prizes due to
the commission, the commission may collect the amount under this
section.
SECTION 10. Section 2001.514(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) To secure payment due to the commission of the fee on
prizes imposed under this subchapter, each license holder shall
furnish to the commission:
(1) a cash bond;
(2) a bond from a surety company chartered or
authorized to do business in this state;
(3) certificates of deposit;
(4) certificates of savings;
(5) United States treasury bonds;
(6) subject to the approval of the commission, an
assignment of negotiable stocks or bonds; or
(7) other security as the commission considers
sufficient.
SECTION 11. Section 2001.515, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 2001.515. COMMISSION'S DUTIES. The commission shall
perform all functions incident to the administration, collection,
enforcement, and operation of the fee on prizes imposed under this
subchapter that is due to the commission, including any necessary
reconciliation of a prize fee held by the commission that is due to
a municipality or county.
SECTION 12. Sections 2001.420(a) and 2001.459(b),
Occupations Code, are repealed.
SECTION 13. Notwithstanding any other law, if an executive
order issued by the governor before the effective date of this Act
had the effect of prohibiting the conduct of bingo occasions under
Chapter 2001, Occupations Code, the payment by a licensed
authorized organization to a licensed commercial lessor of rent
charges that were incurred and paid during the period in which the
conduct of bingo was prohibited are not subject to:
(1) the limits on rent charged provided by Section
2001.406(a), Occupations Code; or
(2) the requirement that an item of expense for the
conduct of bingo be reasonable or necessary provided by Section
2001.458(a), Occupations Code.
SECTION 14. Not later than January 1, 2022, the Texas
Lottery Commission shall adopt the rules necessary to implement the
changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 2001, Occupations Code.
SECTION 15. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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