BINGO LICENSES; FEE WAIVERS S.B. 126:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bill 126 (as introduced 2-10-21) (Senate-passed version)
CONTENT
The bill would amend the Traxler-McCauley-Law-Bowman Bingo Act to prohibit the Commissioner of State Lottery from charging a license fee for a large bingo license for the 2021 licensing year if the applicant held a large bingo license in the 2020 licensing year.
Generally, the Act allows the Commissioner to issue one or more of the listed licenses, including a large bingo license, to an applicant, if the Commissioner determines that the applicant is a qualified organization, is not ineligible to receive the license, and has paid to the Bureau of State Lottery the applicable license fee. The fee for a large bingo license is $150. "Large bingo" means a series of bingo occasions that occur on a regular basis during which the total value of all prizes awarded for bingo games at a single occasion does not exceed $3,500 and the total value of all prizes awarded for one bingo game does not exceed $1,100.00, except that a prize awarded through a Michigan progressive jackpot bingo game is not subject to these limitations.
Under the bill, for the 2021 license year, the Commissioner could not charge a license fee for a large bingo license fee if the applicant held a large bingo license for the 2020 licensing year.
MCL 432.104a Legislative Analyst: Christian Schmidt
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have a negative fiscal impact on the Michigan State Lottery and no fiscal impact on local units of government. The State Lottery charges $150 for large bingo licenses and, in 2019, issued 516 large bingo licenses. Assuming that the same number were issued in 2020, and that all of these applicants applied for a license in 2021, the bill would amount to a $77,400 loss in fee revenue for the Michigan Lottery. This loss likely would be absorbed by the Michigan Lottery without affecting operations.
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.