‘An Act To Protect Public Safety in the Operation of Casinos’
| HP0473 LD 643 |
First Regular Session - 125th Maine Legislature C "A", Filing Number H-547, Sponsored by
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LR 1555 Item 2 |
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| Bill Tracking, Additional Documents | Chamber Status | ||
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following:
‘An Act To Protect Public Safety in the Operation of Casinos’
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the title and inserting the following:
‘Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the operation of a casino has been approved by the voters of Maine; and
Whereas, it is in the best interest of the people of the State to have appropriate oversight of the operation of table games at a casino; and
Whereas, rules should be in place as soon as possible so as not to delay the operation of table games at a casino; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Sec. 1. 8 MRSA §1003, sub-§1, ¶J, as enacted by PL 2003, c. 687, Pt. A, §5 and affected by Pt. B, §11, is amended to read:
Sec. 2. 8 MRSA §1003, sub-§1, ¶K is enacted to read:
Sec. 3. 8 MRSA §1003, sub-§3, ¶G-1 is enacted to read:
Sec. 4. 8 MRSA §1003, sub-§4 is enacted to read:
This subsection is repealed December 31, 2014.
Sec. 5. 8 MRSA §1018, sub-§1, as amended by IB 2009, c. 2, §34, is further amended to read:
In addition to the application fee for a license or annual fee for a registered slot machine or table game, the board may charge a one-time application fee for a license or registration listed in paragraphs A to E in an amount equal to the projected cost of processing the application and performing any background investigations. If the actual cost exceeds the projected cost, an additional fee may be charged to meet the actual cost. If the projected cost exceeds the actual cost, the difference may be refunded to the applicant. All fees collected pursuant to this section must be deposited directly to the General Fund Administrative Expenses Other Special Revenue Funds account, which is a dedicated nonlapsing account within the Gambling Control Board, except that $25,000 of the annual renewal fee for a slot machine operator or casino operator must be deposited to the Gross Slot Income Other Special Revenue Fund Funds account within the Gambling Control Board to be transferred to the municipality in which the slot machine facility or casino is operated, in accordance with subsection 2. All application and registration fees are nonrefundable and are due upon submission of the application.
Sec. 6. Gambling Control Board to adopt emergency major substantive rules. The rules required by this Act are emergency major substantive rules of the Department of Public Safety, Gambling Control Board and must be adopted no later than August 15, 2011. Those same rules must be provisionally adopted and submitted to the Legislature for approval no later than January 13, 2012.
Sec. 7. Report. By February 15, 2012, the Department of Public Safety, Gambling Control Board shall report to the joint standing committee of the Legislature having jurisdiction over matters relating to the operation of casinos the process used to develop and adopt rules that prescribe the specific method and rules of play for table games authorized to be conducted at a casino, including comments received from the casino operator and any source used as a model for game play rules.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this legislation takes effect when approved.’
SUMMARY
This amendment replaces the bill, which was a concept draft. The amendment includes an emergency preamble and clause. The amendment requires the Department of Public Safety, Gambling Control Board to adopt emergency major substantive rules governing the oversight of the operation of table games at a casino. The rules must ensure that bets on table games are not made with cash and that the exchange of cash for chips, tokens or other items of value is done in a manner that can provide a thorough audit. The amendment requires the board to report on the process for developing rules that govern the rules of play for table games. The amendment changes current law to provide that license and application fees collected by the board go to a dedicated account for the administration of the board rather than to the General Fund.