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Representative Powell urges committee to modernize charitable bingo rules
Summary
Representative Powell told the Economic Development and Tourism committee that House Bill 455 would let charitable bingo operators use multiple locations, hold up to three sessions per day (no more than five hours each), raise the weekly prize cap to $6,000 and allow higher daily pay for operators; the committee advanced the bill by voice vote.
Representative Powell presented House Bill 455 to the Economic Development and Tourism committee, saying the measure modernizes Georgia’s charitable bingo rules to reflect how organizations run events today. “We’re raising the prizes from three to $6,000 in a calendar week,” Powell said, and the bill would permit up to three bingo sessions a day, with each session limited to five hours.
Powell told the committee the changes respond to long-standing, “antiquated” statutes and would benefit not-for-profit, fraternal and military organizations that run bingo to raise funds for charitable causes. He described the bill as a “simple” update that also would allow certain organizations to conduct games at multiple locations rather than a single site.
Committee members asked technical questions about how other forms of gaming and related devices are treated under state law. One committee member asked whether the state recognizes only two forms of legalized gambling — the lottery and bingo — and Powell answered that courts have treated cash payouts as the defining feature of commercial gambling. He and other members discussed the state’s move to limit cash payouts and permit non-cash redemptions such as gift cards, and noted a transition to noncash gift-card options planned for July 1.
Powell also said the bill increases the allowable daily payment to people who run bingo events — from the historic $30 level to as much as $150 per day — to reflect market rates for professional operators and auctioneers.
A committee member moved that HB 455 “do pass”; the motion was seconded and the committee advanced the bill by voice vote. The committee record does not include a roll-call tally. The chair said Senator Brass would carry the bill forward.
Why it matters: The changes affect charities and community organizations that rely on bingo for fundraising and update payout and venue rules that the sponsor described as decades old. The bill does not expand legalized commercial gambling beyond the forms Powell and members discussed.
What’s next: The bill was reported favorably by the committee and will be handled by the senator the chair identified for further action.
