CHARITABLE GAMING: Provides an exemption for nonprofit healthcare organizations to hold and operate a license for conducting certain raffles. (8/1/26)
Summary
SB 181 amends Louisiana’s charitable gaming law to create a specific licensing framework for nonprofit healthcare organizations. It defines a “nonprofit healthcare organization” as a tax-exempt healthcare provider affiliated with a hospital and extends charitable gaming eligibility to those organizations, along with clarifying related definitions for parent-teacher associations, schools, public higher education institutions, and volunteer fire companies.
The bill’s main operational change is that nonprofit healthcare organizations that are part of a single health system may operate under one state charitable gaming license, so long as each participating entity is otherwise eligible. The parent organization must annually notify the Office of Charitable Gaming which entities will use the single license. The bill also makes nonprofit healthcare organizations eligible for a limited raffle license, overriding prior restrictions in the gaming statutes.
Impact
SB 181 amends R.S. 4:707, the statute governing authorization to license certain organizations for charitable raffles, bingo, and keno. It expands the list of entities that can participate in charitable gaming licensing by adding a new definition for nonprofit healthcare organizations and creating a special rule allowing affiliated entities within a single health system to share one license. It also changes eligibility for limited raffle licenses, which may affect how hospitals and related nonprofit health entities raise funds through charitable gaming activities.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the Senate 38-0, the House 90-0, and the Senate again on concurrence 35-0, indicating unanimous or near-unanimous approval in both chambers. The lack of committee transcript material also suggests there was little recorded public dispute around the measure.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive opposition in the available record. The only likely policy issue is whether nonprofit healthcare organizations should receive a special exemption from the usual charitable gaming licensing structure, including the ability to operate under a single license across a health system and to qualify for limited raffle licenses. Any concern would likely center on regulatory consistency and whether the expanded access could create an uneven benefit compared with other nonprofit groups, but no recorded objections appear in the voting history.