Committee hears bills to remove 2% bingo‑card tax for tax‑exempt groups

A legislative review committee heard two identical bills that would remove a 2% state gaming tax applied to bingo cards sold by tax‑exempt organizations, presenters said.

Representative Mike McGurl, who said he represents District 118 (northern Washington County and southern Franklin County), told the panel the bills remove a 2% gaming tax currently imposed on bingo cards and that veterans groups have asked for the change. “So basically all this does is it removes it,” McGurl said. He added the bills carry a fiscal note of about $1,300,000.

The measure would apply only to organizations that qualify as tax‑exempt under the statute that authorizes charitable gaming; presenters and committee members said that bars or restaurants that host bingo do not qualify unless the event is conducted by a tax‑exempt organization. Representative Fuchs asked whether the fiscal note reflected the revenue loss from removing the 2% tax, and McGurl confirmed the state would forgo roughly $1.3 million if the tax were removed.

Committee members noted veterans organizations such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) as the primary groups that run bingo events and that had requested relief from the tax. No members of the public registered to testify in favor, in opposition or for informational purposes, and the chair closed the hearing on House Bill 985 and House Bill 48.

The hearing record does not include a committee vote on either bill; the session was a statutory review/hearing and was closed without further action recorded on the bills.