California Charity Bingo Association: SB 1369 Trojan Horse Legislation That Would be Devastating to Californians

SB 1369 outlaws the electronic charity bingo machines that hundreds of small charities throughout the state rely on for funding. In its place, it creates something called "Remote Caller Bingo," a technology that that links simultaneous Bingo games at multiple locations throughout the state. While organizers of Remote Caller Bingo will be able to offer larger, "life altering" jack pots, the technology will be unavailable to small charities and its practicality and profitability is questionable even for larger charities,

Meanwhile, the spread of Remote Caller Bingo through internet technology triggers a little-known clause buried inside the Indian gaming compact: basically, casinos operating under the compact have the right to use the internet for gambling if that technology is opened up to anyone else in California.

Essentially, if charities can offer Remote Caller Bingo online, then the door is open for gaming tribes to do the same. Because bingo is a game authorized by the lottery, tribes will be able to offer lottery games online. And what's more, loopholes in compact language and federal law may give casinos the green light to not only offer Bingo and Lottery games, but to offer other casino games like poker, black jack and slots. Anything that's played inside a casino could be played over the Internet with the approval of SB 1369.

According to I. Nelson Rose, a leading authority on gaming law, SB 1369 could "lead to the greatest expansion of legal gambling in history."

Current online gambling operations are hosted overseas and betting and collecting winnings can be problematic. But with SB 1369,California would become the first U.S. state to allow fully legalized online gambling!

Hundreds of local charities are dependent on Governor Schwarzenegger's veto of SB 1369. While the state budget has dragged into a record setting stalemate that is on the minds of Californians, it is equally important to Californians that our elected leaders protect local charities and the people they serve. To learn more, visit http://www.savecharitybingo.org.

SOURCE California Charity Bingo Association