Bill Text: CA SB741 | 2017-2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Charitable raffles.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB741 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB741-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Charitable raffles.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB741 Detail]
Download: California-2017-SB741-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION
| Senate Bill | No. 741 |
| Introduced by Senator Mendoza |
February 17, 2017 |
An act to add Section 320.7 to the Penal Code, relating to gaming, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 741, as introduced, Mendoza.
Charitable raffles.
The California Constitution authorizes the Legislature to permit private, nonprofit, eligible organizations to conduct raffles as a funding mechanism to support beneficial and charitable works, if, among other conditions, at least 90% of the gross receipts from the raffle go directly to beneficial or charitable purposes in California. The California Constitution further authorizes the Legislature to amend the percentage of gross receipts required to be dedicated to beneficial or charitable purposes by a statute passed by a 2/3 vote of each house of the Legislature. Existing statutory law implements those provisions and requires the Department of Justice to administer and enforce those provisions.
Existing law authorizes a major league sports raffle
at a home game conducted by an eligible organization, as defined, for the purpose of directly supporting specified beneficial or charitable purposes in California, or financially supporting another private, nonprofit, eligible organization, as defined, that performs those purposes if, among other requirements, each ticket sold contains a unique and matching identifier, 50% of the gross receipts generated from the sale of raffle tickets are used to benefit or provide support for beneficial or charitable purposes, as defined, the other 50% is paid to the winner, and the winners of the prizes are determined by a manual draw, as specified.
This bill would similarly authorize a private, nonprofit organization established by, or affiliated with, a district agricultural association, county fair association, or citrus fruit fair association to conduct a raffle for the purpose of directly supporting specified beneficial or charitable purposes in California, or financially
supporting another private, nonprofit, eligible organization, as defined, that performs those purposes if, among other requirements, 50% of the gross receipts generated from the sale of raffle tickets are used to benefit or provide support for beneficial or charitable purposes, as defined, and the other 50% is paid to the winner.
This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Digest Key
Vote: 2/3 Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 320.7 is added to the Penal Code, to read:320.7.
(a) Notwithstanding Section 320.5, this section shall apply to an eligible organization, as defined in subdivision (c).(b) A raffle conducted by an eligible organization, as defined in subdivision (c), for the purpose of directly supporting beneficial or charitable purposes or financially supporting another private, nonprofit eligible organization, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 320.5, that performs beneficial or charitable purposes may be conducted in accordance with this section.
(c) For purposes of this section, “eligible organization” means a private, nonprofit organization established by, or affiliated with, a district agricultural association, county fair
association, or citrus fruit fair association, as described in Division 3 (commencing with Section 3001) of the Food and Agricultural Code.
(d) For purposes of this section, “raffle” means a scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance among persons who have paid money for paper tickets that provide the opportunity to win these prizes, in which all of the following are true:
(1) Each ticket sold contains a unique and matching identifier.
(2) (A) Winners of the prizes are determined by a manual draw from tickets described in paragraph (1) that have been sold for entry in the manual draw.
(B) An electronic device may be used to sell tickets. The ticket receipt issued by the electronic device to the purchaser may include more than
one unique and matching identifier, representative of and matched to the number of tickets purchased in a single transaction.
(C) A random number generator is not used for the manual draw or to sell tickets.
(D) The prize paid to the winner is comprised of one-half or 50 percent of the gross receipts generated from the sale of raffle tickets for a raffle.
(3) The manual draw is conducted in California under the supervision of a natural person who meets both of the following requirements:
(A) The person is 18 years of age or older.
(B) The person is affiliated with the eligible organization conducting the raffle.
(4) (A) Fifty percent of the gross receipts generated from the sale of raffle tickets for any given manual draw are used by the eligible organization conducting the raffle to benefit or provide support for beneficial or charitable purposes, or used to benefit another private, nonprofit organization, provided that an organization receiving these funds is itself an eligible organization as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 320.5. As used in this section, “beneficial purposes” excludes purposes that are intended to benefit officers, directors, or members, as defined by Section 5056 of the Corporations Code, of the eligible organization. Funds raised by raffles conducted pursuant to this section shall not be used to fund any beneficial, charitable, or other purpose outside of California. This section does not preclude an eligible organization from using funds from sources other than the sale of raffle tickets to pay for the administration or other costs of conducting a raffle.
(B) An employee of an eligible organization who is a direct seller of raffle tickets shall not be treated as an employee for purposes of workers’ compensation under Section 3351 of the Labor Code if the following conditions are satisfied:
(i) Substantially all of the remuneration, whether or not paid in cash, for the performance of the service of selling raffle tickets is directly related to sales rather than to the number of hours worked.
(ii) The services performed by the person are performed pursuant to a written contract between the seller and the eligible organization and the contract provides that the person will not be treated as an employee with respect to the selling of raffle tickets for workers’ compensation purposes.
(C) For purposes of this
section, an employee selling raffle tickets shall be deemed to be a direct seller as described in Section 650 of the Unemployment Insurance Code as long as he or she meets the requirements of that section.
(e) A person who receives compensation in connection with the operation of the raffle shall be an employee of the eligible organization that is conducting the raffle, and in no event may compensation be paid from revenues required to be dedicated to beneficial or charitable purposes.
(f) A raffle ticket shall not be sold in exchange for Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency.
(g) A raffle otherwise permitted under this section shall not be conducted by means of, or otherwise utilize, any gaming machine that meets the definition of slot machine contained in Section 330a, 330b, or 330.1.
(h) A raffle shall not be operated or conducted in any manner over the Internet, nor may raffle tickets be sold, traded, or redeemed over the Internet. For purposes of this paragraph, an eligible organization shall not be deemed to operate or conduct a raffle over the Internet, or sell raffle tickets over the Internet, if the eligible organization advertises its raffle on the Internet or permits others to do so. Information that may be conveyed on an Internet Web site pursuant to this paragraph includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Lists, descriptions, photographs, or videos of the raffle prizes.
(2) Lists of the prize winners.
(3) The rules of the raffle.
(4) Frequently
asked questions and their answers.
(5) Raffle entry forms, which may be downloaded from the Internet Web site for manual completion by raffle ticket purchasers, but shall not be submitted to the eligible organization through the Internet.
(6) Raffle contact information, including the eligible organization’s name, address, telephone number, facsimile number, or e-mail address.
(i) An individual, corporation, partnership, or other legal entity shall not hold a financial interest in the conduct of a raffle, except the eligible organization that is itself authorized to conduct that raffle, and any private, nonprofit, eligible organizations receiving financial support from that charitable organization pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (d).
(j) An eligible
organization shall disclose to all ticket purchasers the designated private, nonprofit, eligible organization for which the raffle is being conducted.
(k) An eligible organization that conducts a raffle to financially support another private, nonprofit eligible organization, as defined in subdivision (c) of Section 320.5, shall distribute all proceeds not paid out to the winners of the prizes to the private, nonprofit organization within 15 days of conducting the raffle, in accordance with this section.
(l) Any raffle prize remaining unclaimed by a winner at the end of the 30 days following the drawing of the prize shall be donated by the eligible organization to the designated private, nonprofit organization for which the raffle was conducted.
SEC. 2.
This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:In order to authorize a private, nonprofit organization established by, or affiliated with, a district agricultural association, county fair association, or citrus fruit fair association to conduct raffles for the purpose of providing support for beneficial or charitable purposes in California at the earliest time possible, it is necessary for this act to take effect immediately.
