The commission shall notify the Chief of the State Police of the suspension or revocation of any license under this chapter.__The commission shall also notify the Chief of the State Police of any investigation of a violation of any provision of this Title.

Sec. 12. 28-A MRSA §1054, sub-§11, śC is enacted to read:

C.__A municipality may not combine a permit to operate a video gaming terminal, as defined in Title 17, section 361, with any other permit.__The fee for a permit to operate a video gaming terminal may not be higher than the fee for any other special entertainment permit issued by the municipality.

Sec. 13. 30-A MRSA §5686 is enacted to read:

§5686.__Public Education Fund

In order to aid in financing education services, the Public Education Fund is established.__Money in the Public Education Fund must be distributed to each municipality in proportion to the product of the population of the municipality multiplied by the property tax burden of the municipality as defined in section 5681.

SUMMARY

This bill allows operation of video gaming terminals by nonprofit organizations that are eligible for games of chance licenses and that are exempt from federal tax under Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(8), 501(c)(10) or 501(c)(19). These sections of the tax code refer to charitable organizations, civic leagues, fraternal benefit societies, domestic fraternal societies and associations and veterans' organizations. Organizations that currently have licenses for electronic video machines but do not qualify under one of those code sections may apply for an initial license while they seek the required federal tax status. The organization applying for the license must own or lease the premises on which the terminals will be placed and must use the premises for its charitable or nonprofit purpose.

Video gaming terminal manufacturers, wholesalers and operators must be licensed by the Chief of the State Police, following background investigations of the applicants and their major business partners. Local approval is required for a license to operate video gaming terminals.