Bingo: Texas lawmakers move to protect the charitable game, curb illegal gaming

Charitable bingo — a longtime moneymaker in Texas — may soon get some help from the state.

A plan to make sure law enforcement across the state cracks down on illegal gambling that siphons crowds and cash away from bingo has moved forward in the Texas Legislature.

State Rep. Eddie Lucio III, D-Brownsville, tacked onto another bill a plan to prevent communities that ignore illegal gaming from claiming the prize fees they might otherwise get from charitable bingo.

“If law enforcement is doing their job, enforcing the law, there’s no reason to take the money from them,” said Steve Bresnen, an Austin-based attorney and lobbyist who represents charitable bingo interests. “If they aren’t, the money stays with the charities.

“Without illegal gaming, charitable bingo will thrive.”

Lucio’s move comes just weeks before the Legislature wraps up work on Memorial Day, May 29.

His proposal was attached to a bill by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston, that addresses charitable bingo in Texas by requiring the use of a bingo advisory committee, curbing illegal gambling and requiring some licensing and registration fees to be refunded.

Thompson’s House Bill 2577 now heads to the Senate, where state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, will carry it.

Charitable bingo

Bingo in Texas has many competing interests from the casinos in nearby states to the Texas Lottery.

The industry has long fought efforts to expand gambling in Texas, from proposals allowing video machines in horse racing tracks to legalizing eight-liners across the state.

In Texas, playing eight-liners — electronic devices resembling slot machines that offer prizes to winners — for cash is illegal. Non-cash prizes are allowed only if they are worth less than $5. Law officials periodically raid establishments housing these machines in gas stations or other facilities, often confiscating the machines.

“In many areas of Texas, charitable bingo competes against illegal gambling conducted in game rooms using machines that simulate slot machines and people paying the winners in cash,” Lucio said earlier this session during a committee hearing.

Lawmakers approved allowing state-regulated bingo in 1981 to raise money for Texas charities, which have received more than $1 billion through the game, a report shows.

In 2016, bingo sales in Texas topped $761 million, and more than $579 million was paid to players, according to the most recent annual report from the Charitable Bingo Operations Division of the Lottery Commission.

Boys and Girls Clubs, Meals on Wheels, food banks, needy children, education scholarships, senior citizens and veterans are among the people and groups who benefit from money raised through charitable bingo, the report shows.

At the same time, $19.1 million from charitable bingo was sent to the state’s general revenue fund — and $13.9 million was sent to cities and counties that share in the prize fees collected, the report shows.

Illegal gaming?

Lucio said the lottery commission has reported that illegal gaming reduces the number of people who play charitable bingo and the amount raised by charitable bingo.

Lucio’s amendment, which began as HB 3611, requires the Texas Lottery Commission — which oversees charitable bingo — to determine whether there is illegal gambling in the state.

Then it’s up to law enforcers in the communities to take over and shut it down. If that doesn’t happen, groups running charitable bingo in those communities would no longer send prize fees collected to those cities or counties.

Instead, those groups would put the money directly in the charity’s general fund.

“This is a great idea,” Rob Kohler, a consultant with the Austin-based Christian Life Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, said this session. “Let’s take a swing at it.”

No one has testified against the measure at the Texas Capitol.

“If law enforcement wants to do something about illegal (gaming), they can have the money,” Bresnen said. “If not, it stays with the charities.”

This story was originally published May 7, 2017 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Bingo: Texas lawmakers move to protect the charitable game, curb illegal gaming."