By James Roxbury
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Earlier today the House Rules Committee advanced HB1098 along a party line vote where it waits for a vote on concurrence to Senate amendments.
This action comes a day after its language was amended in the Senate Appropriations Committee and subsequently passed in the Senate earlier this morning. Here's footage from yesterday's Senate Appropriations Committee.
Video 2: Passage of the bill.
The bill would expand the definition of "Major League Sports Teams" to enable organizations like the Hershey Bears and the Harrisburg Senators to conduct drawings for charitable purposes.
The legislation also creates a new chapter in the law to allow for-profit hotels, restaurants, privately owned public golf courses, brew pubs or micro breweries licensed to sell liquor under the Liquor Code, to sell pull-tab games, hold daily drawings or tavern raffles.
Prize limits would be restricted to $2,000 dollars per single chance, and $35,000 dollars (in the aggregate) per week. Tavern raffles would be limited to one per month.
A "Tavern Raffle" is exclusive to helping support charitable organizations. At least 50% of the proceeds must be distributed to the advertised charitable organization within seven days of the drawing. The remaining 60% would be remitted to the Commonwealth, and 40% retained by the licensee.
A tax of 60% would be imposed on all games that have not been purchased through a licensed distributor. If such games are purchased through a licensed distributor, the total tax would be limited to 60% of the net revenue for the game in question. In this context, net revenue is calculated by subtracting the total amount collectable by a licensee and the total amount payable to the winner.
Here's the Democratic and Republican analyses of the bill.
The fiscal note for HB1098 projects average annual revenues between $62.4 million and $156 million dollars.