Bill Text: FL S0668 | 2014 | Regular Session | Comm Sub


Bill Title: Amusement Machines

Spectrum:

Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Commerce and Tourism [S0668 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S0668-Comm_Sub.html
       Florida Senate - 2014                              CS for SB 668
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Gaming; and Senators Stargel and Abruzzo
       
       
       
       
       
       584-02365-14                                           2014668c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to amusement machines; amending s.
    3         849.161, F.S.; redefining terms; revising
    4         applicability; clarifying provisions and making
    5         technical changes; authorizing direct receipt of
    6         merchandise under certain circumstances; specifying a
    7         cap on the redemption value of points or coupons;
    8         requiring the Department of Revenue to calculate
    9         annually an adjusted cap; requiring the department to
   10         publish the amount of the adjusted cap in a brochure
   11         accessible from its website; providing an effective
   12         date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 849.161, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   17  read:
   18         849.161 Amusement games or machines; when chapter
   19  inapplicable.—
   20         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   21         (a) “Amusement games or machines” means games which are
   22  operated only for bona fide entertainment of the general public,
   23  which are activated which operate by means of the insertion of
   24  currency or a coin, card, coupon, slug, token, or similar
   25  device, and which, by application of skill, may entitle the
   26  person playing or operating the game or machine controls the
   27  outcome of the game to receive points or coupons, the cost value
   28  of which does not exceed 75 cents on any game played, which may
   29  be exchanged for merchandise. The term does not include:
   30         1. Casino-style games in which the outcome of the game is
   31  determined by factors unpredictable by the player; or
   32         2. Games in which the player does may not control the
   33  outcome of the game through skill;
   34         3. Video poker games or any other game or machine that may
   35  be construed as a gambling device under the laws of this state;
   36  or
   37         4. Any game or device defined as a gambling device in 15
   38  U.S.C. s. 1171, unless excluded under s. 1178.
   39         (b) “Arcade amusement center” means a place of business
   40  having at least 50 coin-operated amusement games or machines on
   41  premises which are operated for the entertainment of the general
   42  public and tourists as a bona fide amusement facility.
   43         (c) “Game played” means the event occurring from the
   44  initial activation of the amusement game or machine by the
   45  insertion of currency or a coin, card, coupon, slug, token, or
   46  similar device, until the results of play are determined without
   47  the insertion of additional currency or an additional coin,
   48  card, coupon, slug, token, or similar device, to continue play
   49  payment of additional consideration. Free replays do not count
   50  as separate games played constitute additional consideration.
   51         (d) “Merchandise” means noncash prizes, including toys and
   52  novelties. The term does not include:
   53         1. Cash equivalents or any equivalent thereof, including
   54  gift cards or certificates;, or
   55         2. Alcoholic beverages;
   56         3. Cards, coupons, points, slugs, tokens, or similar
   57  devices that can be used to activate an amusement game or
   58  machine; or
   59         4. Points or coupons that have redemption value greater
   60  than the cap calculated pursuant to subsection (8).
   61         (e) “Redemption value” means the imputed value of coupons
   62  or points, based on the wholesale cost of onsite merchandise for
   63  which those coupons or points may be redeemed.
   64         (f)(e) “Truck stop” means a any dealer registered pursuant
   65  to chapter 212, excluding marinas, which:
   66         1. Declared its primary fuel business to be the sale of
   67  diesel fuel; and
   68         2. Operates a minimum of six functional diesel fuel pumps;
   69  and
   70         3. Has coin-operated amusement games or machines on
   71  premises which are operated for the entertainment of the general
   72  public and tourists as bona fide amusement games or machines.
   73         (2) Nothing contained in This chapter does not shall be
   74  taken or construed to prohibit an arcade amusement center or
   75  truck stop from operating amusement games or machines operated
   76  in conformance with this section.
   77         (3) This section applies only to amusement games or and
   78  machines which are operated for the entertainment of the general
   79  public and tourists as bona fide amusement games or machines.
   80         (4) This section does shall not be construed to authorize:
   81         (a) Casino-style games in which the outcome of the game is
   82  determined by factors unpredictable by the player;
   83         (b) Games in which the player does not control the outcome
   84  of the game through skill;
   85         (c) Video poker games or any other game or machine that may
   86  be construed as a gambling device under the laws of this state;
   87  or
   88         (d) Any game or device defined as a gambling device in 15
   89  U.S.C. s. 1171, which requires identification of each device by
   90  permanently affixing seriatim numbering and name, trade name,
   91  and date of manufacture under s. 1173, and registration with the
   92  United States Attorney General, unless excluded from
   93  applicability of the chapter under s. 1178, or video poker games
   94  or any other game or machine that may be construed as a gambling
   95  device under Florida law.
   96         (5) An amusement game or machine may entitle or enable a
   97  person, by application of skill, This section does not apply to
   98  a coin-operated game or device designed and manufactured only
   99  for bona fide amusement purposes which game or device may by
  100  application of skill entitle the player to replay the game or
  101  device without the insertion of at no additional currency or an
  102  additional coin, card, coupon, slug, token, or similar device,
  103  if cost, if the game or device:
  104         (a)The amusement game or machine can accumulate and react
  105  to no more than 15 free replays;
  106         (b) The amusement game or machine can be discharged of
  107  accumulated free replays only by reactivating the game or device
  108  for one additional play for such accumulated free replay; and
  109         (c) The amusement game or machine cannot Can make a no
  110  permanent record, directly or indirectly, of free replays; and
  111  is not classified by the United States as a gambling device in
  112  15 U.S.C. s. 1171, which requires identification of each device
  113  by permanently affixing seriatim numbering and name, trade name,
  114  and date of manufacture under s. 1173, and registration with the
  115  United States Attorney General, unless excluded from
  116  applicability of the chapter under s. 1178. This subsection
  117  shall not be construed to authorize video poker games, or any
  118  other game or machine that may be construed as a gambling device
  119  under Florida law.
  120         (6)An amusement game or machine may entitle or enable a
  121  person, by application of skill, to receive points or coupons
  122  that can be redeemed onsite for merchandise, if:
  123         (a) The amusement game or machine is located at an arcade
  124  amusement center, truck stop, bowling center defined in s.
  125  849.141, or public lodging establishment or public food service
  126  facility licensed pursuant to chapter 509;
  127         (b) Points or coupons have no value other than for
  128  redemption onsite for merchandise;
  129         (c) The redemption value of points or coupons a person
  130  receives for a single game played does not exceed the cap
  131  calculated pursuant to subsection (8); and
  132         (d)The redemption value of points or coupons a person
  133  receives for playing multiple games simultaneously or competing
  134  against others in a multi-player game, does not exceed the cap
  135  calculated pursuant to subsection (8).
  136         (7)An amusement game or machine may entitle or enable a
  137  person, by application of skill, to receive merchandise
  138  directly, if:
  139         (a) The amusement game or machine is located at an arcade
  140  amusement center, truck stop, bowling center defined in s.
  141  849.141, public lodging establishment or public food service
  142  facility licensed pursuant to chapter 509, or on the premises of
  143  a retailer as defined in s. 212.02; and
  144         (b)The wholesale cost of the merchandise does not exceed
  145  10 times the cap calculated pursuant to subsection (8).
  146         (8) The cap on the redemption value of points or coupons is
  147  $5.25. Beginning July 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the
  148  Department of Revenue shall adjust the cap by multiplying the
  149  prior cap by 1 plus the percentage change in the Consumer Price
  150  Index for All Urban Consumers, U.S. City Average, or a successor
  151  index as calculated by the United States Department of Labor,
  152  for the most recent 12-month period ending March 31, and
  153  rounding the product to the nearest cent. The Department of
  154  Revenue shall publish the cap, as adjusted, in a brochure
  155  accessible from its website relating to sales and use tax on
  156  amusement machines.
  157         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.

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