SF 2218

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to lawful gambling; regulating expenditures 
  1.3             and reports; providing enforcement powers; removing 
  1.4             the restriction on compensation to persons who 
  1.5             participate in the conduct of lawful gambling; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 349.151, 
  1.7             subdivision 4; 349.166, subdivisions 2 and 3; and 
  1.8             349.19, subdivision 3; repealing Minnesota Statutes 
  1.9             1994, section 349.168, subdivision 3. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 349.151, 
  1.12  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 4.  [POWERS AND DUTIES.] (a) The board has the 
  1.14  following powers and duties:  
  1.15     (1) to regulate lawful gambling to ensure it is conducted 
  1.16  in the public interest; 
  1.17     (2) to issue licenses to organizations, distributors, bingo 
  1.18  halls, manufacturers, and gambling managers; 
  1.19     (3) to collect and deposit license, permit, and 
  1.20  registration fees due under this chapter; 
  1.21     (4) to receive reports required by this chapter and inspect 
  1.22  all premises, records, books, and other documents of 
  1.23  organizations, distributors, manufacturers, and bingo halls to 
  1.24  insure compliance with all applicable laws and rules; 
  1.25     (5) to make rules authorized by this chapter; 
  1.26     (6) to register gambling equipment and issue registration 
  1.27  stamps; 
  2.1      (7) to provide by rule for the mandatory posting by 
  2.2   organizations conducting lawful gambling of rules of play and 
  2.3   the odds and/or house percentage on each form of lawful 
  2.4   gambling; 
  2.5      (8) to report annually to the governor and legislature on 
  2.6   its activities and on recommended changes in the laws governing 
  2.7   gambling; 
  2.8      (9) to impose civil penalties of not more than $500 per 
  2.9   violation on organizations, distributors, employees eligible to 
  2.10  make sales on behalf of a distributor, manufacturers, bingo 
  2.11  halls, and gambling managers for failure to comply with any 
  2.12  provision of this chapter or any rule or order of the board; 
  2.13     (10) to issue premises permits to organizations licensed to 
  2.14  conduct lawful gambling; 
  2.15     (11) to delegate to the director the authority to issue or 
  2.16  deny license and premises permit applications and renewals under 
  2.17  criteria established by the board; 
  2.18     (12) to suspend or revoke licenses and premises permits of 
  2.19  organizations, distributors, manufacturers, bingo halls, or 
  2.20  gambling managers as provided in this chapter; 
  2.21     (13) to register employees of organizations licensed to 
  2.22  conduct lawful gambling; 
  2.23     (14) to require fingerprints from persons determined by 
  2.24  board rule to be subject to fingerprinting; 
  2.25     (15) to delegate to a compliance review group of the board 
  2.26  the authority to investigate alleged violations, issue consent 
  2.27  orders, and initiate contested cases on behalf of the board; 
  2.28     (16) to order organizations, distributors, manufacturers, 
  2.29  bingo halls, and gambling managers to take corrective actions; 
  2.30  and 
  2.31     (17) to take all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of 
  2.32  and public confidence in lawful gambling.  
  2.33     (b) The board, or director if authorized to act on behalf 
  2.34  of the board, may by citation assess any organization, 
  2.35  distributor, employee eligible to make sales on behalf of a 
  2.36  distributor, manufacturer, bingo hall licensee, or gambling 
  3.1   manager a civil penalty of not more than $500 per violation for 
  3.2   a failure to comply with any provision of this chapter or any 
  3.3   rule adopted or order issued by the board.  Any organization, 
  3.4   distributor, bingo hall licensee, gambling manager, or 
  3.5   manufacturer assessed a civil penalty under this paragraph may 
  3.6   request a hearing before the board.  Appeals of citations 
  3.7   imposing a civil penalty are not subject to the provisions of 
  3.8   the administrative procedure act.  
  3.9      (c) All fees and penalties received by the board must be 
  3.10  deposited in the general fund. 
  3.11     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 349.166, 
  3.12  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.13     Subd. 2.  [EXEMPTIONS.] (a) Lawful gambling may be 
  3.14  conducted by an organization without a license and without 
  3.15  complying with sections 349.168, subdivisions 1 and 2; 349.17, 
  3.16  subdivisions 4 and 5; 349.18, subdivision 1; and 349.19 if: 
  3.17     (1) the organization conducts lawful gambling on five or 
  3.18  fewer days in a calendar year; 
  3.19     (2) the organization does not award more than $50,000 in 
  3.20  prizes for lawful gambling in a calendar year; 
  3.21     (3) the organization pays a fee of $25 to the board, 
  3.22  notifies the board in writing not less than 30 days before each 
  3.23  lawful gambling occasion of the date and location of the 
  3.24  occasion, or 60 days for an occasion held in the case of a city 
  3.25  of the first class, the types of lawful gambling to be 
  3.26  conducted, the prizes to be awarded, and receives an exemption 
  3.27  identification number; 
  3.28     (4) the organization notifies the local government unit 30 
  3.29  days before the lawful gambling occasion, or 60 days for an 
  3.30  occasion held in a city of the first class; 
  3.31     (5) the organization purchases all gambling equipment and 
  3.32  supplies from a licensed distributor; and 
  3.33     (6) the organization reports to the board, on a single-page 
  3.34  form prescribed by the board, within 30 days of each gambling 
  3.35  occasion, the gross receipts, prizes, expenses, expenditures of 
  3.36  net profits from the occasion, and the identification of the 
  4.1   licensed distributor from whom all gambling equipment was 
  4.2   purchased.  
  4.3      (b) If the organization fails to file a timely report as 
  4.4   required by paragraph (a), clause (3) or (6), a $250 penalty is 
  4.5   imposed on the organization.  Failure to file a timely report 
  4.6   does not disqualify the organization as exempt under this 
  4.7   subdivision if a report is later filed and the penalty paid. the 
  4.8   board shall not issue lawful gambling permits to the 
  4.9   organization until the report has been filed. 
  4.10     (c) Merchandise prizes must be valued at their fair market 
  4.11  value. 
  4.12     (d) Unused pull-tab and tipboard deals must be returned to 
  4.13  the distributor within seven working days after the end of the 
  4.14  lawful gambling occasion.  The distributor must accept and pay a 
  4.15  refund for all returns of unopened and undamaged deals returned 
  4.16  under this paragraph. 
  4.17     (e) An organization that is exempt from taxation on 
  4.18  purchases of pull-tabs and tipboards under section 297E.02, 
  4.19  subdivision 4, paragraph (b), clause (4), must return to the 
  4.20  distributor any tipboard or pull-tab deal no part of which is 
  4.21  used at the lawful gambling occasion for which it was purchased 
  4.22  by the organization. 
  4.23     (f) The organization must maintain all required records of 
  4.24  exempt gambling activity for 3-1/2 years. 
  4.25     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 349.166, 
  4.26  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  4.27     Subd. 3.  [RAFFLES; CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS.] Sections 
  4.28  349.168, subdivisions 3 and subdivision 4; and 349.211, 
  4.29  subdivision 3, and the membership requirements of section 
  4.30  349.16, subdivision 2, paragraph (c), do not apply to raffles 
  4.31  conducted by an organization that directly or under contract to 
  4.32  the state or a political subdivision delivers health or social 
  4.33  services and that is a 501(c)(3) organization if the prizes 
  4.34  awarded in the raffles are real or personal property donated by 
  4.35  an individual, firm, or other organization.  The person who 
  4.36  accounts for the gross receipts, expenses, and profits of the 
  5.1   raffles may be the same person who accounts for other funds of 
  5.2   the organization.  
  5.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 349.19, 
  5.4   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  5.5      Subd. 3.  [EXPENDITURES.] (a) All expenditures of gross 
  5.6   profits from lawful gambling must be itemized as to payee, 
  5.7   purpose, amount, and date of payment, and must be in compliance 
  5.8   with section 349.154.  Authorization of the expenditures must be 
  5.9   recorded in the monthly meeting minutes of the licensed 
  5.10  organization.  Checks for expenditures of gross profits must be 
  5.11  signed by at least two persons authorized by board rules to sign 
  5.12  the checks. 
  5.13     (b) Expenditures authorized by the board according to 
  5.14  section 349.12, subdivision 25, paragraph (b), clause (3), must 
  5.15  be 51 percent completed within two years of the date of board 
  5.16  approval.  "Fifty-one percent completed" means that the work 
  5.17  completed must represent at least 51 percent of the value of the 
  5.18  project as documented by the contractor or vendor.  An 
  5.19  organization that fails to comply with this paragraph shall 
  5.20  reapply to the board for approval of the project. 
  5.21     Sec. 5.  [REPEALER.] 
  5.22     Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 349.168, subdivision 3, is 
  5.23  repealed. 
  5.24     Sec. 6.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.25     Sections 1 to 5 are effective the day following final 
  5.26  enactment.