An Act to amend and reenact § 18.2-340.19 of the Code of Virginia, relating to charitable gaming; regulations; predetermined percentage of receipts.
HB399 amends Virginia’s charitable gaming law by directing the Department to update its regulations for charitable gaming permits and electronic gaming authorizations. The bill requires applicants to use a predetermined percentage of gaming receipts for the organization’s lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes, and it specifically recognizes certain real-property-related expenses as qualifying uses. It also continues to authorize the Department to regulate fees, audits, membership-list requirements, and the equipment used in charitable gaming.
The bill further expands and clarifies the regulatory framework for electronic gaming and bingo. It defines what equipment may be used, including equipment that can display facsimiles of instant bingo, pull tabs, or seal cards, while excluding slot-machine-like devices and similar gambling-style machines. It also addresses bingo participation rules, including when members, nonmembers, children of members, and minors may participate, and it allows the Department to set conditions for raffles held outside Virginia and for the use of food and nonalcoholic beverages by bingo workers.
HB399 updates § 18.2-340.19 of the Code of Virginia, giving the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services broader and more detailed rulemaking authority over charitable gaming operations. It affects qualified charitable, religious, community, and educational organizations that conduct bingo, raffles, or electronic gaming by setting standards for how much revenue must be devoted to charitable purposes, what expenses may count toward that requirement, and what equipment and participation practices are permitted. It also preserves confidentiality for membership lists submitted to the Department and maintains regulatory oversight through fees and audits.
No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the supplied materials. Based on the enacted chapter text, the bill appears to have been successfully advanced and signed into law, suggesting at least sufficient support for passage. The overall tone of the measure is regulatory and administrative rather than controversial on its face, though it touches on gaming practices that can sometimes draw scrutiny.
The main potential points of contention are the bill’s treatment of electronic gaming equipment and the scope of permissible devices, since the text draws a line between allowed electronic gaming features and prohibited slot-machine-like devices. Another possible area of dispute is the degree of flexibility given to organizations in counting real property acquisition, construction, maintenance, repair, and rental costs as legitimate charitable uses of gaming receipts. Rules governing who may participate in bingo, including minors, nonmembers, and members involved in operations, could also be sensitive for organizations and regulators, but no specific objections are documented in the provided record.