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House subcommittee advances bill to raise pay cap for bingo callers to $200
Summary
A House Labor and Commerce subcommittee voted to report House Bill 1920 as amended to allow higher remuneration for paid bingo callers and managers, replacing a decades-old $100 per-session cap with language that permits higher pay while keeping volunteer work preferred.
A House Labor and Commerce subcommittee on ABC gaming voted to report House Bill 1920 as amended on a unanimous voice vote, moving to allow higher pay for paid bingo callers and managers.
The bill, presented on behalf of Delegate Ward, strikes the current mandatory language that limits remuneration and inserts permissive language at line 99 of the code so organizations may pay callers more than the long-standing $100 per session cap. The amendment keeps volunteer callers as the preferred option while permitting negotiated pay for professional callers; the amendment sponsor framed the change as modernizing a restriction that has not changed since the 1990s.
Supporters who testified online and in person told the committee the $100 cap has reduced the pool of available callers and made planning events harder for charitable organizations. Mark McKinney, a bingo caller who told the panel he has called games for 31 years, said the workload has increased and the compensation has not kept pace: "We used to not call as many holidays... the work for callers and responsibility has increased tremendously." Caitlin Wachs, treasurer for an organization that operates Pico, said a $100 cap over a six‑hour session amounts to about $16 an hour and discourages experienced callers: "A caller like Mark who's been doing this for 32 years deserves probably more than $200." Dr. Jennifer Goff, representing a charitable gaming entity, said groups support the ability to pay larger callers and managers while also wanting discussion about other outdated rules in charitable gaming.
After receiving testimony and fielding no committee questions that changed the substance of the amendment, the clerk recorded the committee report "as amended"; the transcript records the clerk announcing the bill "reports as amended 7 to 0." The amendment language discussed would unstrike "may" and strike "shall" at line 99 and references a proposed $200 cap, though witnesses said organizations could negotiate higher rates if the permissive language remains.
The committee's action was procedural: reporting a bill advances it to the next stage of the legislative process; the change does not itself alter the code until enacted by the full General Assembly.
Votes at the subcommittee were recorded in the transcript as a 7‑0 report in favor of moving the bill forward.
