Bill Text: FL S0268 | 2015 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Amusement Games or Machines

Spectrum:

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-04-22 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/HB 641 (Ch. 2015-93) [S0268 Detail]

Download: Florida-2015-S0268-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2015                       CS for CS for SB 268
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Finance and Tax; and Regulated Industries;
       and Senators Stargel, Latvala, and Abruzzo
       
       
       
       
       593-03130-15                                           2015268c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to amusement games or machines;
    3         creating s. 546.10, F.S.; providing legislative
    4         findings; defining terms and phrases; authorizing an
    5         amusement game or machine to be operated with
    6         specified requirements; providing requirements for
    7         classifying such a device as a Type 1 or a Type 2
    8         amusement game or machine; providing that amusement
    9         games or machines may only be located at specified
   10         locations; specifying the maximum value on the
   11         redemption value of a coupon or a point; requiring the
   12         Department of Revenue to annually adjust the maximum
   13         value; providing a formula for the adjustment of the
   14         maximum value; requiring the department to publish the
   15         amount of the adjusted maximum value; authorizing
   16         certain persons or entities to enjoin the operation of
   17         an amusement game or machine; providing penalties;
   18         amending s. 551.102, F.S.; conforming a cross
   19         reference; repealing s. 849.161, F.S., relating to
   20         amusement games or machines; providing an effective
   21         date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Section 546.10, Florida Statutes, is created to
   26  read:
   27         546.10 Amusement games or machines.—
   28         (1) The Legislature finds that regulation of the operation
   29  of skill-based amusement games or machines at specified
   30  locations to ensure compliance with the requirements of law is
   31  appropriate to prevent expansion of casino-style gambling.
   32         (2) Therefore, the Legislature finds that there is a
   33  compelling state interest in clarifying the operation and use of
   34  amusement games or machines to ensure that provisions regulating
   35  these devices are not subject to abuse or interpreted in any
   36  manner as creating an exception to the state’s general
   37  prohibitions against gambling.
   38         (3) As used in this section, the term:
   39         (a) “Amusement game or machine” means a game or machine
   40  operated only for the bona fide entertainment of the general
   41  public which a person activates by inserting or using currency
   42  or a coin, card, coupon, slug, token, or similar device, and, by
   43  the application of skill, with no material element of chance
   44  inherent in the game or machine, the person playing or operating
   45  the game or machine controls the outcome of the game. The term
   46  does not include:
   47         1.Any game or machine that uses mechanical slot reels,
   48  video depictions of slot machine reels or symbols, or video
   49  simulations or video representations of any other casino game,
   50  including, but not limited to, any banked or banking card game,
   51  poker, bingo, pull-tab, lotto, roulette, or craps.
   52         2. A game in which the player does not control the outcome
   53  of the game through skill or a game where the outcome is
   54  determined by factors not visible, known, or predictable to the
   55  player.
   56         3. A video poker game or any other game or machine that may
   57  be construed as a gambling device under the laws of this state.
   58         4.Any game or device defined as a gambling device in 15
   59  U.S.C. s. 1171, unless excluded under s. 1178.
   60         (b)“Arcade amusement center” means a place of business
   61  having at least 50 amusement games or machines on premises which
   62  is operated for the entertainment of the general public and
   63  tourists as a bona fide amusement facility.
   64         (c)“Card” means a card other than a credit card or debit
   65  card which is used to activate an amusement game or machine;
   66  which contains a microprocessor chip, magnetic stripe, or other
   67  means for storing, retrieving, and transferring information,
   68  including information regarding coupons or points that are won
   69  and that may be redeemed for merchandise; which is prefunded;
   70  and for which the prefunded value is diminished by the cost of
   71  play.
   72         (d)“Game played” means the event beginning with the
   73  activation of the amusement game or machine and ending when the
   74  results of play are determined without the insertion or the use
   75  of any additional currency, coin, card, coupon, slug, token, or
   76  similar device to continue play. A free replay is not a separate
   77  game played.
   78         (e) The phrase “material element of chance inherent in the
   79  game or machine” means any of the following:
   80         1.The possibility of the player succeeding at the game or
   81  accomplishing the player’s task is determined by the number or
   82  ratio of prior wins or prior losses of players playing the game.
   83         2. An award of value is not based solely on the player
   84  achieving the object of the game or on the player’s score.
   85         3.The number of the coupons or points awarded or the value
   86  of the prize awarded for successfully playing the game can be
   87  controlled by a source other than the player or players playing
   88  the game.
   89         4.The ability of the player to succeed at the game is
   90  determined by a game feature or design that changes the effect
   91  of the player’s actions and that is not discernible or known by
   92  the player.
   93         5. The accomplishment of the player’s task requires the
   94  exercise of a skill that no player could exercise.
   95         6. A computer-based or mechanical random number generator
   96  or other factor that is not discernible, known, or predictable
   97  by the player determines the outcome or winner of the game.
   98         7. The game is designed or adapted with a control device to
   99  allow manipulation of the game by the operator in order to
  100  prevent a player from winning or to predetermine which player
  101  will win.
  102         (f) “Merchandise” means noncash prizes maintained on the
  103  premises by the operator of the amusement game or machine,
  104  including toys and novelties. The term does not include:
  105         1. A cash equivalent, such as a gift card or certificate.
  106         2. An alcoholic beverage.
  107         3. A card, coupon, point, slug, token, or similar device
  108  that can be used to activate an amusement game or machine.
  109         4. A coupon or a point that has a redemption value greater
  110  than the maximum value determined under subsection (8).
  111         5. Any prize or other item, if the exchange or conversion
  112  to cash or a cash equivalent is facilitated or permitted by the
  113  owner or operator of the game or machine.
  114         (g)“Redemption value” means the imputed value of a coupon
  115  or a point, based on the wholesale cost of merchandise for which
  116  the individual may redeem the coupon or point.
  117         (h)“Truck stop” means a dealer registered pursuant to
  118  chapter 212, excluding a marina, which:
  119         1.Declares the sale of diesel fuel to be its primary fuel
  120  business; and
  121         2.Operates at least six functional diesel fuel pumps.
  122         (4)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an
  123  amusement game or machine may be operated as provided in this
  124  section.
  125         (5)A Type 1 amusement game or machine is an amusement game
  126  or machine that may entitle or enable a person to:
  127         (a) Replay the game or device without the insertion or the
  128  use of any additional currency, coin, card, coupon, slug, token,
  129  or similar device, if:
  130         1. The amusement game or machine can accumulate and react
  131  to no more than 15 such replays;
  132         2. The amusement game or machine can be discharged of
  133  accumulated replays only by reactivating the game or device for
  134  one additional play for each accumulated replay;
  135         3. The amusement game or machine cannot make a permanent
  136  record, directly or indirectly, of any free replay;
  137         4. The amusement game or machine does not entitle the
  138  player to receive any merchandise or a coupon or a point that
  139  may be redeemed for merchandise;
  140         5. An unused free replay may not be exchanged for anything
  141  of value, including merchandise or a coupon or a point that may
  142  be redeemed for merchandise; and
  143         6. The amusement game or machine does not contain any
  144  device that awards a credit and contains a circuit, meter, or
  145  switch capable of removing and recording the removal of a credit
  146  if the award of a credit is dependent upon chance; or
  147         (b) Receive a coupon or a point that may only be redeemed
  148  for merchandise, if:
  149         1. The coupon or point has no value other than for
  150  redemption for merchandise;
  151         2. The redemption value of the coupon or point a person
  152  receives for a single game played does not exceed the maximum
  153  value determined under subsection (8). However, a player may
  154  accumulate coupons or points to redeem for merchandise if there
  155  is no single item of merchandise which has a wholesale cost of
  156  more than 100 times the maximum value determined under
  157  subsection (8), or for a prize consisting of more than one item,
  158  unit, or part, if the aggregate wholesale cost of all items,
  159  units, or parts does not exceed 100 times the maximum value
  160  determined under subsection (8); and
  161         3. The redemption value of coupons or points that a person
  162  receives for playing multiple games simultaneously or competing
  163  against others in a multiplayer game does not exceed the maximum
  164  value determined under subsection (8).
  165         (6)A Type 2 amusement game or machine is an amusement game
  166  or machine that allows the player to manipulate a claw or
  167  similar device within an enclosure and entitles or enables a
  168  person to receive merchandise directly from the game or machine,
  169  if the wholesale cost of the merchandise does not exceed 10
  170  times the maximum value determined under subsection (8).
  171         (7)(a) A Type 1 amusement game or machine may only be
  172  located at:
  173         1. A timeshare facility as defined in s. 721.05(17);
  174         2. A public lodging establishment or public food service
  175  establishment licensed pursuant to chapter 509;
  176         3. The following premises, if the owner or operator of the
  177  premises has a current license issued by the Department of
  178  Business and Professional Regulation pursuant to chapter 509 or
  179  chapters 561-568:
  180         a. An arcade amusement center;
  181         b. A bowling center, as defined in s. 849.141; or
  182         c. A truck stop.
  183         (b)A Type 2 amusement game or machine may only be located
  184  at:
  185         1. A timeshare facility as defined in s. 721.05(17);
  186         2. An arcade amusement center;
  187         3. A bowling center, as defined in s. 849.141;
  188         4. The premises of a retailer, as defined in s. 212.02;
  189         5. A public lodging establishment or public food service
  190  establishment licensed pursuant to chapter 509;
  191         6. A truck stop; or
  192         7. The premises of a veterans’ service organization granted
  193  a federal charter under Title 36, United States Code, or a
  194  division, department, post, or chapter of such organization, for
  195  which an alcoholic beverage license has been issued.
  196         (8)For purposes of this section, the “maximum value” is
  197  $5.25. Beginning September 30, 2017, and annually thereafter,
  198  the Department of Revenue shall calculate the maximum value as
  199  adjusted by the rate of inflation for the 12 months before
  200  September 1, rounded to the nearest 5 cents. In calculating the
  201  adjusted maximum value, the department shall multiply the prior
  202  maximum value by one plus the percentage change in the Consumer
  203  Price Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, All
  204  Items, not seasonally adjusted, or a successor index as
  205  calculated by the United States Department of Labor. Each
  206  adjusted maximum value shall take effect on the following
  207  January 1, with the initial adjusted maximum value to take
  208  effect on January 1, 2018. Beginning October 15, 2017, and
  209  annually thereafter, the department shall publish the maximum
  210  value, as adjusted, in a brochure accessible from its website
  211  relating to sales and use tax on amusement machines. If the
  212  release of the August Consumer Price Index for All Urban
  213  Consumers occurs after September 15, in any given year, the
  214  department shall publish the adjusted maximum value within 30
  215  calendar days after the release date.
  216         (9)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an action
  217  to enjoin the operation of any game or machine pursuant to or
  218  for an alleged violation of this section or chapter 849 may be
  219  brought only by:
  220         (a) The Attorney General, the state attorney for the
  221  circuit in which the game or machine is located, any federally
  222  recognized tribal government possessing sovereign powers and
  223  rights of self-governance which is a party to a compact with the
  224  state, or in the case of an alleged violation of statutes that
  225  it is charged with enforcing, the Department of Agriculture and
  226  Consumer Services or the Department of Business and Professional
  227  Regulation; or
  228         (b) Any substantially affected person who is a resident of
  229  the county where the place of business operating the game or
  230  machine is located, or any substantially affected person who has
  231  a business or residence within 5 miles of the place of business
  232  operating the game or machine.
  233         (10) In addition to other civil, administrative, and
  234  criminal sanctions, any person who violates this section shall,
  235  upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second
  236  degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Any
  237  person convicted of violating this section a second time shall,
  238  upon conviction, be guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree,
  239  punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. Any person
  240  who violates any provision of this section after having been
  241  twice convicted shall be deemed a common offender and shall be
  242  guilty of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided
  243  in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.
  244         Section 2. Subsection (8) of section 551.102, Florida
  245  Statutes, is amended to read:
  246         551.102 Definitions.—As used in this chapter, the term:
  247         (8) “Slot machine” means any mechanical or electrical
  248  contrivance, terminal that may or may not be capable of
  249  downloading slot games from a central server system, machine, or
  250  other device that, upon insertion of a coin, bill, ticket,
  251  token, or similar object or upon payment of any consideration
  252  whatsoever, including the use of any electronic payment system
  253  except a credit card or debit card, is available to play or
  254  operate, the play or operation of which, whether by reason of
  255  skill or application of the element of chance or both, may
  256  deliver or entitle the person or persons playing or operating
  257  the contrivance, terminal, machine, or other device to receive
  258  cash, billets, tickets, tokens, or electronic credits to be
  259  exchanged for cash or to receive merchandise or anything of
  260  value whatsoever, whether the payoff is made automatically from
  261  the machine or manually. The term includes associated equipment
  262  necessary to conduct the operation of the contrivance, terminal,
  263  machine, or other device. Slot machines may use spinning reels,
  264  video displays, or both. A slot machine is not a “coin-operated
  265  amusement machine” as defined in s. 212.02(24) or an amusement
  266  game or machine as described in s. 546.10 s. 849.161, and slot
  267  machines are not subject to the tax imposed by s. 212.05(1)(h).
  268         Section 3. Section 849.161, Florida Statutes, is repealed.
  269         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.

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