(a) Consistent with the Legislature’s finding that card-minding devices, as described in subdivision (p) of Section 326.5, are the only permissible electronic devices to be used by charity bingo players, and in an effort to ease the transition to remote caller bingo on the part of those nonprofit organizations that, as of July 1, 2008, used electronic devices other than card-minding devices to conduct games in reliance on an ordinance of a city, county, or city and county that, as of July 1, 2008, expressly recognized the operation of electronic devices other than card-minding devices by organizations purportedly authorized to conduct bingo in the city, county, or city and county, there is hereby created the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund.
(b) The Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund shall be administered by the Department of Justice.
(c) Mitigation payments to be made by the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund shall not exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) in the aggregate.
(d) (1) To allow the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund to become immediately operable, five million dollars ($5,000,000) shall be loaned from the accrued interest in the Indian Gaming Special Distribution Fund to the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund on or after January 1, 2009, to make mitigation payments to eligible nonprofit organizations. Five million dollars ($5,000,000) of this loan amount is hereby appropriated to the California Gambling Control Commission for the purposes of providing mitigation payments to certain charitable organizations, as described in subdivision (e). Pursuant to Section 16304 of the Government Code, after three years the unexpended balance shall revert back to the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund.
(2) To reimburse the Special Distribution Fund, those nonprofit organizations that conduct a remote caller bingo game pursuant to Section 326.3 shall pay to the Department of Justice an amount equal to 5 percent of the gross revenues of each remote caller bingo game played until that time as the full advanced amount plus interest on the loan at the rate accruing to moneys in the Pooled Money Investment Account is reimbursed.
(e) (1) An organization meeting the requirements in subdivision (a) shall be eligible to receive mitigation payments from the Charity Bingo Mitigation Fund only if the city, county, or city and county in which the organization is located maintained official records of the net revenues generated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, by the organization from the use of electronic devices or the organization maintained audited financial records for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, which show the net revenues generated from the use of electronic devices.
(2) In addition, an organization applying for mitigation payments shall provide proof that its board of directors has adopted a resolution and its chief executive officer has signed a statement executed under penalty of perjury stating that, as of January 1, 2009, the organization has ceased using electronic devices other than card-minding devices, as described in subdivision (p) of Section 326.5, as a fundraising tool.
(3) Each eligible organization may apply to the California Gambling Control Commission no later than January 31, 2009, for the mitigation payments in the amount equal to net revenues from the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, by filing an application, including therewith documents and other proof of eligibility, including any and all financial records documenting the organization’s net revenues for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, as the California Gambling Control Commission may require. The California Gambling Control Commission is authorized to access and examine the financial records of charities requesting funding in order to confirm the legitimacy of the request for funding. In the event that the total of those requests exceeds five million dollars ($5,000,000), payments to all eligible applicants shall be reduced in proportion to each requesting organization’s reported or audited net revenues from the operation of electronic devices.
(Amended by Stats. 2013, Ch. 353, Sec. 121. (SB 820) Effective September 26, 2013. Operative July 1, 2013, by Sec. 129 of Ch. 353.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018