Bingo players resist regulation by state agencies
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A state senator is pushing back against various state agencies over what they say is illegal gaming and he says is protected bingo.
On Sep. 1, the Arizona Department of Gaming, Arizona Department of Revenue and Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control sent a joint letter to bingo licensees that gambling on certain machines is illegal and could result in litigation.
Alarmed bingo-lovers argue that playing these games is protected by Senate Bill 1180, which Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, passed in 2017. It specifically allows licensees to use Bingo Technological Aids to play bingo. Essentially tablets, the aids function as accessible electronic bingo cards, and licensees can use them to legally play bingo games where people win money.
Gambling on slot machines however is illegal for those licensees, and according to the state agencies, it’s that type of illegal play they are hearing reports of in Arizona.
The Attorney General’s Communications Director Richie Taylor declined to weigh in on the legality of how these licensees are playing bingo, but the issue could very well end up in court if the agencies and licensees cannot agree on the legality of the bingo-playing.
Former Gov. Doug Ducey’s administration began investigating the bingo issue, but his administration didn’t issue anything definitive.
Borrelli hosted a press conference and issued a statement on Monday with the support of bingo-enjoying groups including members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion and the Fraternal Order of Eagles, Elks and Moose Lodges. He asked the agencies to stop their “tyrannic harassment” of the groups.
Department of Gaming Legislative Affairs and Communications Manager Max Hartgraves said illegal slot machines aren’t audited and don’t have consumer protections, but receipts are collected for legal live call bingo. That means the slot machine type gambling is not something the Department of Revenue and Department of Gaming can regulate properly.
Bingo licensees are taxed on their revenue, and the taxes go to the Department of Revenue. The percentage of the tax changes depending on the type of license. The total number of revenue in dollars is not known.
State agencies are tasked with enforcing state statutes on gambling. If a bingo licensee is found to be breaking the law, Hartgraves said the Department of Revenue will ask them to comply. “Then at that point, if nothing changes, then I’m sure action would be taken. You know, the letter was only released just over a month ago. So, there’s more to come,” he said.
Operating illegal bingo gambling devices is a class 2 misdemeanor.
Borrelli said he has a hunch that the state agencies are pushing against the nonprofits and groups using devices to play bingo because they want to defend a monopoly on tribal gaming. He put the blame on the Department of Gaming in particular. “Your flimsy legal analysis and the 180-degree turn by your departments leads me to fear that you are sacrificing Arizona’s veterans to cow to tribal gaming interests,” he wrote in his letter to the agencies.
“I don’t really know where that’s coming from,” Hartgraves said, noting that there’s a wide variety of gaming.
The Governor’s Office claimed it was Borrelli who had ulterior motives. “Senator Borrelli seems more interested in promoting unregulated, potentially predatory gambling than in helping non-profit organizations comply with the law. It’s shameful he would make a political stunt out of Governor Hobbs protecting some of Arizona’s most vulnerable populations from corporations that could be exploiting them for personal profit,” Gov. Katie Hobbs spokesperson Christian Slater said in a statement.
Many of the groups use the revenue from these games for various community projects, food banks, first responders and more. According to testimonies from stakeholders at Borrelli’s press conference, the bingo income is helpful with paying bills and, of course, just having some fun. They ask the state government to leave them alone.
American Legion Commander Ron Ross attended Borrelli’s presser and said the money generated by bingo is used by his group to provide supplies for students, teachers and ROTC units. “We’re not there to make millions of dollars doing anything, we’re there to help people that need the help,” he said.
