H-0916.1

HOUSE BILL 1707

State of Washington
68th Legislature
2023 Regular Session
ByRepresentatives Kloba, Reed, and Eslick
Read first time 02/01/23.Referred to Committee on Regulated Substances & Gaming.
AN ACT Relating to bingo conducted by bona fide charitable or nonprofit organizations; and amending RCW 9.46.0205.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 9.46.0205 and 2002 c 369 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
"Bingo," as used in this chapter, means a game ((conducted only in the county within which the organization is principally located)) in which prizes are awarded on the basis of designated numbers or symbols on a card conforming to numbers or symbols selected at random and in which no cards are sold except at the time and place of ((said))the game, when ((said))the game is conducted by a bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization, or if an agricultural fair authorized under chapters 15.76 and 36.37 RCW, which does not conduct bingo on more than twelve consecutive days in any calendar year, and except in the case of any agricultural fair as authorized under chapters 15.76 and 36.37 RCW, no person other than a bona fide member or an employee of said organization takes any part in the management or operation of said game, and no person who takes any part in the management or operation of said game takes any part in the management or operation of any game conducted by any other organization or any other branch of the same organization, unless approved by the commission, and no part of the proceeds thereof inure to the benefit of any person other than the organization conducting said game. ((For the purposes of this section, the organization shall be deemed to be principally located in the county within which it has its primary business office. If the organization has no business office, the organization shall be deemed to be located in the county of principal residence of its chief executive officer: PROVIDED, That any organization which is conducting any licensed and established bingo game in any locale as of January 1, 1981, shall be exempt from the requirement that such game be conducted in the county in which the organization is principally located))The bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization must be principally located in the state of Washington and may not be approved for more than three licenses to conduct bingo activities.
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