H-2551.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2025
State of Washington 67th Legislature 2022 Regular Session
By House Commerce & Gaming (originally sponsored by Representative
Chambers; by request of Gambling Commission)
READ FIRST TIME 02/03/22.
1 AN ACT Relating to amending types of nonprofit organizations
2 qualified to engage in certain bingo gambling activities and changes
3 to the number of occurrences for unlicensed bingo activities; and
4 amending RCW 9.46.0209.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
6 Sec. 1. RCW 9.46.0209 and 2021 c 176 s 5202 are each amended to
7 read as follows:
8 (1)(a) "Bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization," as used
9 in this chapter, means:
10 (i) Any organization duly existing under the provisions of
11 chapter 24.12, 24.20, or 24.28 RCW, any agricultural fair authorized
12 under the provisions of chapter 15.76 or 36.37 RCW, or any nonprofit
13 corporation duly existing under the provisions of chapter 19.09 or
14 24.03A RCW for charitable, benevolent, eleemosynary, educational,
15 civic, patriotic, political, religious, scientific, social,
16 fraternal, athletic, or agricultural purposes only, or any nonprofit
17 organization, whether incorporated or otherwise, when found by the
18 commission to be organized and operating for one or more of the
19 aforesaid purposes only, all of which in the opinion of the
20 commission have been organized and are operated primarily for
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1 purposes other than the operation of gambling activities authorized
2 under this chapter; or
3 (ii) Any corporation which has been incorporated under Title 36
4 U.S.C. and whose principal purposes are to furnish volunteer aid to
5 members of the armed forces of the United States and also to carry on
6 a system of national and international relief and to apply the same
7 in mitigating the sufferings caused by pestilence, famine, fire,
8 floods, and other national calamities and to devise and carry on
9 measures for preventing the same.
10 (b) An organization defined under (a) of this subsection must:
11 (i) Have been organized and continuously operating for at least
12 twelve calendar months immediately preceding making application for
13 any license to operate a gambling activity, or the operation of any
14 gambling activity authorized by this chapter for which no license is
15 required; and
16 (ii) Demonstrate to the commission that it has made significant
17 progress toward the accomplishment of the purposes of the
18 organization during the twelve consecutive month period preceding the
19 date of application for a license or license renewal. The fact that
20 contributions to an organization do not qualify for charitable
21 contribution deduction purposes or that the organization is not
22 otherwise exempt from payment of federal income taxes pursuant to the
23 internal revenue code of 1954, as amended, shall constitute prima
24 facie evidence that the organization is not a bona fide charitable or
25 nonprofit organization for the purposes of this section.
26 (c) Any person, association or organization which pays its
27 employees, including members, compensation other than is reasonable
28 therefor under the local prevailing wage scale shall be deemed paying
29 compensation based in part or whole upon receipts relating to
30 gambling activities authorized under this chapter and shall not be a
31 bona fide charitable or nonprofit organization for the purposes of
32 this chapter.
33 (2) For the purposes of RCW 9.46.0315 and 9.46.110, a bona fide
34 nonprofit organization can be licensed by the commission and
35 includes:
36 (a) A credit union organized and operating under state or federal
37 law. All revenue less prizes and expenses received from raffles
38 conducted by credit unions must be devoted to purposes authorized
39 under this section for charitable and nonprofit organizations; and
40 (b) A group of executive branch state employees that:
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1 (i) Has requested and received revocable approval from the
2 agency's chief executive official, or such official's designee, to
3 conduct one or more raffles in compliance with this section;
4 (ii) Conducts a raffle solely to raise funds for either the state
5 combined fund drive, created under RCW 41.04.033; an entity approved
6 to receive funds from the state combined fund drive; or a charitable
7 or benevolent entity, including but not limited to a person or family
8 in need, as determined by a majority vote of the approved group of
9 employees. No person or other entity may receive compensation in any
10 form from the group for services rendered in support of this purpose;
11 (iii) Promptly provides such information about the group's
12 receipts, expenditures, and other activities as the agency's chief
13 executive official or designee may periodically require, and
14 otherwise complies with this section and RCW 9.46.0315; and
15 (iv) Limits the participation in the raffle such that raffle
16 tickets are sold only to, and winners are determined only from, the
17 employees of the agency.
18 (3) For the purposes of RCW 9.46.0277, a bona fide nonprofit
19 organization also includes a county, city, or town, provided that all
20 revenue less prizes and expenses from raffles conducted by the
21 county, city, or town must be used for community activities or
22 tourism promotion activities.
23 (4) For the purposes of bingo operated under RCW 9.46.0321, a
24 bona fide nonprofit organization also includes a county, city, or
25 town community center or a nonprofit senior housing organization.
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Statutes affected: Original Bill: 9.46.0209, 9.46.0321
Substitute Bill: 9.46.0209