Bingo: State House moves for bigger, better bingo booty
HARRISBURG -- The state House is moving to help nonprofit groups that raise funds by holding bingos, which have slipped in attendance as more casinos have opened around Pennsylvania and in neighboring states.
The House voted 180-18 yesterday for a bill introduced by Rep. Don Walko, D-North Side. It would permit nonprofits and charities like volunteer fire companies and church groups to conduct as many as four bingo events per week, instead of the current limit of two bingo events. The nightly limit on bingo prizes would rise to $10,000 from the current $4,000.
The trend toward lower bingo attendance was first noticed in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the Mohegan Sun casino opened near Wilkes-Barre in November 2006, and where another casino opened in the Poconos last year, Mr. Walko said.
"Bingo attendance fell about 40 percent in some areas, according to testimony we took at a hearing in January," he said. He added that a North Strabane volunteer fire department bingo event has closed, due to many customers going to casinos in West Virginia.
John Elliott, who sits on the Chartiers Township volunteer fire company's bingo committee in Washington County, said his Thursday night bingo has dropped to 85 to 90 players, compared with 130 or more before The Meadows slots casino opened just down the road in June.
He said the money raised at bingo is crucial to the department's operation because it goes for equipment, utilities, building maintenance and cleaning supplies.
The bill still needs Senate approval. Besides increasing the nightly payout and the number of bingo games permitted per week, the bill would:
• Allow charities, for the first time, to hold one progressive bingo jackpot per day, with a payout of no more than $50,000.
• Allow bingo players to use hand-held electronic bingo cards as well as traditional paper bingo cards.
• Remove certain bans on advertising; currently, nonprofits may not advertise their bingo jackpot amounts or the entrance fee to the bingo games, which is usually $15 or $20.
• Allow groups to compensate professional bingo callers who run the bingo games.
Written by Tom Barnes
www.post-gazette.com
