| Action | Promulgation of Charitable Gaming Regulations by Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, including electronic gaming provisions |
| Stage | Proposed |
| Comment Period | Ended on 11/23/2022 |
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470 comments
I attended a workshop class and we were told charitable gaming money cannot be used to pay wages or bills etc., charitable gaming monies raised can only be used for operational costs of charitable gaming. Private clubs like ours depends on charitable gaming to raise funds to keep our clubs open; no clubs = no charitable gaming.
My opinion is operational costs of the club as a whole is operational costs of our charitable gaming. Without a building there is no charitable gaming, without electric there is no charitable gaming, without employees to oversee and maintain gaming there is no charitable gaming. This is a regulation that is going to cause many clubs to close our doors.
Private establishments already follow set guidelines as to being required to donate 10% of gaming profits to charity. Now, an additional 40% is required to be paid out, as well. Unfortunately, our economy, as a whole, has already taken a negative drastic hit financially, and these regulations are only going to further devastate our private businesses, families and economy.
As a non-profit organization we are required by the Federal Government to give 10% of our charitable gaming monies raised to charity. Now we will be required by Virginia State Law to give an additional 40% to charity? So we now will be required to give a total of 50% to charity to meet both, Federal and State Law?
If we get off a paper pull-tab jar that nets us $750 profit, after giving 50% away, that means our total profit is $375. Out of that $350, we cannot pay wages to our bartenders who sells the paper pull-tabs, pay the electric bills which allows members playing the paper pull-tabs to see the numbers on the pull-tabs or pay for the dumpster to be emptied to properly get rid of the "bad" paper pull-tabs or pay our mortgage which provides a place for the paper pull-tabs to be sold. Therefore, how are to sell paper pull-tabs or have any charitable gaming at all seeing that any charitable gaming outside our social quarters is illegal?
In my opinion, this is a bad law that is only going to hurt charitable giving which I will discuss in my next post.
In my opinion this is a bad law that is going to hurt charity. Our club has given to our local schools, local fire stations, local libraries, local residents with needs as well as national charities like St. Jude's Children's Hospital, cancer research etc. This law will make us have to close our doors, is the Virginia State Government going to pick up the slack and give to these charitable needs? The schools are underfunded and turns to private clubs like ours for financial help. When we are gone where will these schools etc. turn for financial help? The Virginia State Government?
Please let me begin by saying that I understand and agree with much of what is expected of our organizations pertaining to charitable gaming funds accountability and reporting requirements. At a recent so called training session I spoke up saying that these proposed changes could potentially cause the demise of many of the states fraternal and non-profit charitable organizations. Many of us are actually stop gaps for needs in our local communities helping fund food banks, church needs, police departments, fire departments, child sports programs, community members in distress, and the list goes on and on. Also noted was the fact that these reporting requirements were retroactive back to July 1 2022. This, we will call information session was in October, how does that make any sense ? I did say so called training session because the only real information was the completion of the basic bingo reporting forms. Any real new electronic gaming filing instructions, use of proceeds requirements, and how to go backwards when you have filed the 3rd quarter report already. Many of the participants left stating that the session was a waste of time, and it was. Others left with a bad taste in their mouth regarding charitable gaming regulations as a whole. Now, as I previously mentioned all the small holes filled by our efforts will indeed benefit from the new accountability programs for our electronic gaming accounts and the real problem at hand is the fact that most likely all of the organizations have been using a lot or most of these funds for operation costs. The allowable costs are probably minimal compared to what the funds were really needed for. Most people, if not all, had to use these funds to run the social environment of the organization such as food, beer, liquor, entertainment, improvements, IRS fines, maintenance, and in many cases, payroll. That is the "rub" so to speak. not all that many years ago we were told that this day would come and to prepare for it now. We were also told not so many years ago to transfer money monthly from the pull tab account to the operations account. This utilization of these funds became commonplace and it seems as if it was/is almost impossible to operate a social quarters as a stand alone revenue stream. With todays increased costs across the board, to include food, beer, labor, increased taxes, etc. and all paying members expecting private club pricing, not commercial establishment pricing, we have put ourselves behind the 8 ball, so to speak. I am sure that when the pull tab accounts were just that, pull tabs, they did not create much interest and now with electronic gaming the numbers have caught every body's attention. (this includes the IRS by the way)
What" my point you may be asking, well the big issue here boys and girls is that we have inadvertently shot OURSELVES in the foot. The regulations and reporting seems to me just a part of being a charitable gaming organization. The percentage is the only real part that I think needs clarified. Why the increase ? It also helps to complicate the process and if more information was used to determine all these proposed regulations, I would think that the continuing decline of charitable bingo within these organizations would be indicative of a much bigger problem with organizations like ours that help our communities and parent organizations.
End of Part One
Fraternally, Peter Scott Jachode
At the workshop, somebody asked about the requirement under this law of clearing out the gaming machines and reporting every 48 hours. I haven't read that part of the law yet, but if this is in the law, it needs to be changed.
1) Small clubs like ours has officers that has multiple tasks. I for example am the Chairman of our Trustee Board, Chairman of the Interview Committee, Chairman of the Sports Committee, and the Gaming Manager (as soon as our permit and our Gaming Manager form is processed by this department). For a volunteer position this is already a full-time job and now this will be another responsibility?
2) I cannot guarantee I can be here for every 48th hour. For example, when I attend State Conferences, State Conventions and State Sporting events I will be out of town for the weekend not to mention when I go on vacations.
We are already required to report quarterly and annually. I cannot understand why we will now be required to report charitable gaming every 2 days, in addition to reporting quarterly and annually.
As Gaming Manager, I will be held responsible for anything that is not done in compliance to the regulations, so I really don't like the idea of being tied down not being able to attend Conferences, Conventions or not being able to go on vacations.
Furthermore, for our gaming machines, we have cash drawers specifically for cashing out winning tickets. Sometimes, winning tickets depletes those cash drawers to the point that we have to empty the gaming machines and use those monies to replenish our cash drawers to ensure that we can continue to cash out winning tickets. This is why we reset the gaming machines every Monday.
The 40% use of proceeds needs to be lowered as well as allowing payroll and utilities to be used from this fund.
As a small lodge that is only open 4 days a week already just to try and control costs and be able to give money to the community these new laws will have us shut down in less than 12 months. We give money out monthly to schools, sports teams, Massey Cancer, Moose Heart, Moose Haven and other people in need. Base on what is being proposed we would not be able to operate more than a year if we last that long. The fact that we are being hit with these new laws while gas stations stay operating as normal with little to no regulations is a travesty. Just b/c these stores have Lottery systems that were threatened to be removed and they filed a lawsuit against the state we are catching the brunt of the attack. Gas stations are for profit while our organizations give to the community. When we all close will the state require the gas stations to pick up the loss of these funds to give to the community? If not you are not only killing off the non profits but you are hurting the youth in our state. You will require parents to have to cover more costs as the organizations will not be there to give money to help any longer. The state needs to sit down and see how much in total all of these fraternal organizations give to the community and realize how much of a loss this truly is. Our economy has been in total shambles the past 2+ years thanks to what the democrats have done with our cost of living. Even with the current environment our organizations have struggled but still manage to keep giving to the community and now these changes will end us all.
I'm the Finance Officer for American Veterans Post 40. I attended the training for the reporting we are required to do. First of a volunteer, I give at lease 20 hours a week to counting money, going to the bank, paying bills and taking care of the gaming machines. Now you are adding what will probably be another 5 hours of work trying to answer all the questions on your eight-page audit sheet! I retired because I didn't want to work full time and I will not volunteer full time. It is hard enough getting folks to volunteer for these positions now we will never get anyone, because this will be my last year unless something changes! We will be required to have 3 separate bank accounts, one for electronic gaming, one for paper pull tabs and one for misc funds! That is the craziest thing I've ever heard. And then on top of that our charitable giving is going up to 40%! We are barely making ends meet now, while you all never even visited a site to see if your crazy ideas work. We give to ROTC, Veterans, national charities and a variety of other things through the year, if we are forced to close that will all stop. Then to top everything off you want us to go back to July and try and fill out all the info you want by December 1st even though some of the legistration isn't even passed yet. At the training they couldn't answer half of our questions, but no one seems to care, just do it they say and if you do not we will penalize you. I think you will see a change in this next election, and you bought it on yourself.
As the Finance Officer for our post I pay all the bills, oversee all our charitable donations, try to keep up with all these crazy requirements being put upon us, all in a volunteer status. Our gaming machines along with a lot of my counter parts are what keeps us afloat.. We don't mind giving our monies away to good causes but to have to be monitored at 40% is nuts...I'm a 30 year logistical veteran and know how to government works with a pot of money. Hopefully this November some changes can be made to replace some of the NO thinkers at our supposedly citizens representatives arena. Respectfully sent. Guess Big Business kicks another little man out...
The Building - No building = no place for gaming machines or pull tabs
Electricity - No electricity = no power for electronic gaming devices or lights to see paper pull tabs
Trash Pickup - No trash pickup = no disposal of unused paper pull tabs
Employees - No employees = no sales of paper pull tabs, no issuing of cash payouts and no disposal of unused paper pull tabs
Bottom line is that our clubs survive on the money we make through charitable gaming to pay mortgages, rent, bills, wages etc. (pretty much everything that costs to operate) even cleaning supplies, the floors around the gaming machines aren't going to clean themselves. Again, this is a bad law that doesn't only hurt our clubs, but will hurt our communities as well.
Being a non-profit organization taking 40% of the monies would hurt the lodge and would filter down to the places that are donated too, such as the Fire Departments, Agape and Christian Ministries just to name a few. Several lodges do Easter egg hunts, Halloween parties, Christmas parties for children and these funds help with that. Taking more from the lodges does nothing but hurt many many more in the long run.
I would like to make 2 comments regarding the increase to 40% in charitable gaming donations and dis-allowing part of the gaming proceeds to be used for payroll and utilities in Moose Lodges. For a long time most moose lodges that did not have bingo struggled to make ends meet with just proceeds from their social quarters until charitable gaming came into place. With the use of electronic pull tabs, our lodges have been able to not only put money back into our communities, but also donate to all local fire, rescue, police, local schools and places like St. Jude, Massey Cancer, Gleaming for the World to mention a few. If the required amount of giving is raised to 40% and the right to use gaming as a means for payroll and utilities is taken away, there would be no reason to continue with electronic pull tabs which would hurt all lodges efforts to support their communities as well as other charitable organizations.
Giving to our community and places like St Jude are high on our list in giving, but 40% is too high and not being able to use gaming for payroll and utilities will further the reason that lodges could fail. there is a big need for Moose Lodges in all towns, cities and communities, just ask any member or agency that we contribute too!
While our lodge is small we provide help to many organizations and families in and around our community. Taking 40% of our proceeds would greatly affect our ability to do so. Halloween parties, Easter Egg hunts, providing Thanksgiving dinners to area families, working with Project Horizon and Christmas parties for the area children would be very cumbersome without the proceeds we are used using to provide these for our community families. We ask that you reconsider and think of the hardships you will be conflicting on our organization and community.
In reading the proposed new gaming regulations, I am struck by how they could adversely affect charitable donations. I am also concerned that the regulations do not take into consideration how the standard electronic machine contracts work. I also believe that these regulations are based on unrealistic monetary figures. I will use the specifics of our lodge to show how these regulations will effectively end charitable gaming in organizations like ours.
An average week for our lodge is $3601.00 total net. Our contract with our machine provider is a 50% split. We keep 50% and they get 50%. So our portion of that money is $180050. Out of our half, per your proposed regulations, we would be required to pay out 40% or $720.20 in charitable donations leaving the lodge with $1080.30. Which looks good, on paper and in theory. But there are other costs that must be covered as well. Electricity, heat/AC, equipment (such as registers and barcode readers), phone, internet, labor costs, insurance, etc. All of these and many more are costs that come with having the electronic machines in our locations. There are very few, if any, lodges that have food and beverage sales that will cover the costs of these needs. Please reconsider these regulations or amend them on a tiered/income basis. The future of our organizations and the charities we help depends on it.
This bill is unfair to the Moose Lodges, we are here for the children at Mooseheart and the Seniors at Moosehaven plus helping out our local communities. This bill will prevent us from continuing to do so and will cause some lodges financial hardship that they may not be able to stay open. Go after the convenient stores and Casinos and leave us non profit organization alone! Let us keep working and raising money for those people in need. Not for our State Government.
If the state of VA is trying to force organizations that raise money for charitable reasons out of business they are well on their way! Buy putting these new regulations in place they are most certainly going to force many organizations to close their doors.
This is an overreach of government who's ONLY intent here is to take money from charitable organizations that use gaming as a way to raise funds. In my view they see us as a cash cow, something they can tap into to strengthen their coffers with no regard for the work we do to help others in our communities.
They want to Tax these funds and limit the ways we can use the money we raise through gaming. For many of us gaming keeps our doors open! By the state dictating what we can and can't use the funds for is simply wrong. We already pay taxes and now their greed has found a new sourse that they can pillage.
As a 501c8 we already must follow the federal code in order to qualify. Why do we now have to pay taxes and fees as well as file unreasonable reports to the state? I do understand the need to account for what we do to stay in compliance but these new regulations are excessive and need to be struck down.
I fear that if this trend continues our communities will suffer because we won't be here to help.
The other issue here is that the state does not know what they are asking us to do! This change took effect 1 July, 2022 but is still undefined by the agency in charge! This legislation was rushed through with no forethought as to how it will harm our organizations.
I will have more to say on this as the next few weeks pass and I have time to speak with others and get more familiar with the regulations.
THIS IS JUST MY OPENING SALVO, I'LL BE BACK!
I am a Viet Nam Veteran and Administrator of Callao Moose Lodge #917, volunteered and employed for 26 years. During this time the membership has grown from 240 to over 1100 members. We have gone from all volunteer employees to 11 paid employees. Age ranging from 40 to 80. Having paid employees has changed the operation to a cleaner and more more responsible operation. Our members volunteer to work many hours to raise money for local charities. Vet's House, Children's Hospital, Wounded Warriors, Schools, Massey Cancer and numerous others. We are a proud Lodge and well respected in the Community.
Gaming In our Fraternal Organizations helps us increase our donations and keep the Lodges a clean safe place for our members to come to.
The current Administration in Virginia ran on no new taxes, which I supported. Changing the wording from taxes to fees should be looked into from the top. All Fraternal Organizations would support a reasonable (FEE) but to keep our doors open we need to use proceeds for payroll and utilities. The new rule changes will send Fraternal Organizations back to the Dark Ages. And put a lot of retirees out of a job that depend on this income to survive.
Ed Rest Administrator 8044509676
rested3584@yahoo.com
One of the reasons I became a Moose member was to support the Moose Mission and to help communities. But I find it hard to believe that our State Legislatures wish to shut down the business of Fraternal Organizations. I attended the Lobbying session that took place last summer. I was struck by how many of our elected officials have no idea what we do. The American Legions, AmVets, Eagles, Lions, Moose and Elks have served the test of time. We have all given to our community without fail. There is not an adult in this state that has not benefited in one way or another in their lifetime from one of these organizations. Unfortunately, I believe we are dinosaurs now and will soon be extinct.
Asking for these regulations and making them retro active to July 1, 2022 is almost impossible. There will be many lodges and organizations that will be closed within 6 months. I shudder to think of how many by years end of 2023. Back in the day, families in need depended on the kindness and ability of these organizations to help get them through tough times. That way of living is dying out as the government has made it so easy to apply for help and assistance - BUT there are still needs for our organizations. Who will supply the school supplies for kids in need, coats for the winter , food for the food bank? and so much more. As we look at the past 2 years - where would our communities have been if they were unable to rely on the help of these organizations? COVID has changed the way we work - if we work- it has changed our personal lives to a point that some will never be the same.
By burdening a volunteer organization with having to add extra bank accounts, not able to co-mingle gaming funds with other gaming funds; having to do extra paperwork for every raffle, 50/50, bingo, electronic gaming, pull tabs and every other type of charitable gaming; filing quarterly, semi annual and annual reports that include bank statements and copies of checks- I feel that we are under the thumb of Big Brother. How are we going to have time to do our day to day business? We will probably have to hire another employee to do nothing but Charitable Gaming and remember- WE CAN"T USE ANY OF THE GAMING FUNDS TO PAY THEM. Most lodges have limited employees that are paid because after all we are a volunteer based charitable organization. Once you take the tax off the top, the split with the company that we are leasing electronic gaming devices from (50% of the net) and then take 40% to charity- all other funds (less than 10%) must remain in account to be used as dictated by the state. Many are doomed.
I have always said "do not rely on gaming as your only means" in the hopes that our members would know that we need them to donate in every way. Unfortunately the cost of food has gone up and we cannot rely on food sales alone. Events are costly and to make a profit you must make 75% more than the total cost to have the appropriate funds afterwards. Kiss your fraternal organizations goodbye if this is enacted...oh I forgot it has been approved and is retro to July 1, 2022. But keep in mind the forms aren't available yet and we have to file in December for the 3rd quarter.
Our lodge like many others works with several local charitable organizations - they rely on us. The SPCA, Our local fire and rescue, our local cancer center, our nursing homes and memory care facility, our transitional housing and homeless shelter, we give to all of them. We partner with our local Sheriff's Office on projects. We are not just some little hole in the wall...we are part of our community and continue to be. We sponsor scout troops and give freely of our facility for blood drives, lifeline screenings, Our local Rotary, and other clubs that because of covid NOW HAVE NOWHERE ELSE TO MEET. We house homeowner association meetings, preschool family Thanksgiving luncheons and Christmas programs, baseball, football and basketball team meetings.( All at NO CHARGE for the use of our hall as many cannot afford to pay to meet somewhere) We celebrate our Veterans and care deeply for our country and state. We are part of a thriving community that needs us as much as we need them. Please spread the word that charitable organizations need help with turning this around.....Breakfast with Santa will be pretty tight this year and may be gone completely by next year
The use of proceeds helps the fraternal organizations maintain a safe environment for members of the local community to gather in other fund raising activities. Base on the current formula the fraternal organization is only left with 10% of the net proceeds to maintain operation. I must confess that, like BINGO, fraternal organization should be required to donate funds raised to support lawful religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes. As written it appear the gaming company still retains the 50% yet the fraternal organization is required to pay based on the total net before the vendor is paid. If the Commonwealth of Virginia is set on 40%, I would ask you to consider assess the vendor 20% and the fraternal organization 20% based on their split? This would still put a burden on the fraternal organization. What I would ask is you to consider 10% from the Fraternal and 10% from the vendor and utilize the same methodology as the 10% UOP for BINGO.
The fraternal organizations utilize their building for the local community to assemble when no other suitable facility are available. The Commonwealth of Virginia leaders may not see the impact of losing a fraternal unit in the community may impact. The funds generated by the organization is not always monetary but in the form of a meeting space, recreational kids sports banquets, local police meetings i.e. Crime Solvers in the TriCity or Hopewell/Prince George/Colonial Heights, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, AAU sports not to mention the numerous 501 (C) 3 organization surrounding the organization.
The leadership in the fraternal organizations live and work in the communities surrounding the organization and utilize this as an opportunity to meet various needs that the local governments can’t supply or offset costs. Given the cost of goods, rising energy costs, increase of insurance premiums, cost of maintenance to just list a few it shall be difficult to keep many of the smaller fraternal organization open. This will result in a reduction of gaming facilities to generate funds for religious, charitable, community, or educational purposes.
As it stands now there has been a significant reduction in BINGO with many fraternal organizations no longer conducting BINGO due to low attendance. The cost of doing business through Charitable Gaming may have a third order of effect by fraternal organization eliminating the activity or simply surrendering their charters and closing. The MOOSE has fraternal lodges in the United States of America and Canada under a variety of state and provisional gaming laws. Many are not permitted to conduct any gaming yet they still exist. They exist but their charitable donations are significantly lower than the Commonwealth of Virginia. If that is the intent of our legislative branch, then change nothing and watch the donation decrease and see fraternal organizations close.
Please take into consideration during these hard times families have less to expendable income but are looking for a place to meet, socialize and raise funds for the community as they will continue to struggle to provide for school supplies and recreational activities for their children.
The Virginia Moose Association, comprised of 83 lodges and 68 chapters of Women of the Moose, helps to sustain our fraternal twin cities of Mooseheart and Moosehaven. In addition, we provide monetary donations and safe places in our communities for organizations like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, senior organizations, and countless others to have a clean and local place to meet. We make donations to local animal shelters, domestic violence shelters, food banks, Salvation Army programs, K9s for Warriors, VetsHouse, the Safe Surfin Foundation (online safety for kids), and provide scholarships for many of our local high school graduates to continue their education in Virginia's colleges and universities.
The proposed regulations set forth a use of proceeds mandate as high as 40% on electronic gaming. This means that after a split with the gaming company (usually 50%), our lodges can reasonably expect to deposit around 5% of the total gross proceeds of an electronic game. That money is used to support our charitable endeavors, but is in some of our smaller lodges also used to keep the doors open and provide safe, clean meeting places. The regulatory use of proceeds percentage should be less than 40% if we want to keep our lodges open. The cost of maintaining a lodge include power, utilities, building maintenance, and payroll. If these are cut and lodges have to close because their proceeds are so heavily regulated, it does not just impact the Moose - it impacts the organizations that we support as well. In addition to my work with Moose, I am a local Girl Scout troop leader. Our lodge donated space weekly for 17 girls, aged 5-14, to meet and learn valuable life lessons together. The lodge also built and maintains a cabin meeting space for the Boy Scout Pack/Troop 215 to meet and work with 60 boys and young men weekly. The large hall has been donated for several events in our community. I would really hate to have to explain that we can't host these events or have to charge other nonprofits to use the space because we can not afford to keep the utilities running in those areas of the building once these use of proceeds regulations go into effect. If we are charging 10% gross use of proceeds on bingo, which is open to the public, why is the use of proceeds amount proposed for the social quarters 40%? Please reconsider this percentage so that lodges can maintain their facilities for fraternal and community use.
In addition, the proposed regulations prohibit the use of proceeds from gaming toward payroll expenses. Many of our lodges operate on a volunteer basis, but some of them have grown to the point that they can no longer reasonably expect to be staffed fully by volunteers. While I do not support the use of proceeds exclusively for payroll purposes, it is reasonable to expect that lodges have payroll expenses that are not supported by fraternal fundraising outside of gaming proceeds alone. Many lodges have moved to paid employees because having them has brought a level of professionalism that is more appealing to potential members that visit our lodges. Please reconsider this prohibition so that we can maintain the levels of professionalism and decorum that our organization has come to expect.
We appreciate your consideration of these requests.
11VAC20-20-119 Use of Proceeds Restrictions Will Shut Our Lodge Down
As currently written, the Use of Proceeds section 11VAC20-20-119 will effectively close our Lodge. We do not believe that the original intent of the gaming law was to shut down our Moose lodge. However, the regulations as written by this board will indeed have the effect of shutting us down. As such, we believe the regulations are invalid and do not accord with the actual intent, meaning or spirit of the gaming law.
Use of Proceeds should allow for the base functions of our Fraternal organization, which includes the operations required to keep our building operational.
Background
We estimate that 75% of our operational costs of our small Lodge are paid for by the proceeds from the pull-tab game. The meager output of these pull-tabs pay for the mortgage, electricity, heating, cleaning, employees, building/accident insurance, and the sundry other items which keep the doors of the Lodge open.
This is all funded by our members who alone are allowed to play (and which provides no profit as per our Federal charter and tax returns), and allows us to perform our community services. The Lodge provides a base of organization for our members (who are very active community participants) who use the Lodge and its facilities furthers that community agenda and brotherhood.
Summary
Closing our Lodge would be a loss to our community, and a slap in the face to our active community members. We believe these regulations are not in accord with the spirit of the gaming law, and as such, should be remedied.
Use of Proceeds should allow for the base functions of our Fraternal organization, which includes the operations required to keep our facilities open.
Bottom line, this proposed dramatic legislation will be a detriment to our Charitable giving in our Community, which is a very disadvantaged area of western Virginia. It couldn't come at a worse time than after the effects of 2 years of Covid and now the inflation. I've read the many comments and agree with virtually all the cases being made so I won't repeat them here.
But I do suggest you send your business reps out to our lodge in Dublin, Va so you can look at our books and actually project the effects this legislation would have on our lodge. If you don't do that, you never understand the real disastrous effect you will have on our Community and of course our Lodge.
Thomas William Dudenhoefer
Administrator
Dublin Moose Lodge 2360
After reading through all of the proposed and passed regulations for electronic pull-tabs, it appears to give an inordinate amount of control to fraternal orders. The way that the legislation reads fraternal orders are going to have a monopoly on this revenue generating source. In effect, the other non-profit organizations will become solely reliant on the good will or support of these entities instead of being able to generate the necessary funds to continue their own good works. There is very limited oversight of where the funds are disbursed to and whether or not they are disseminated fairly. Often the funds are given to other non-profits based on political reasons rather than necessity.
I would suggest that a review of what qualifications are needed to have these revenue streams. All of the non-profits are required to file 990 and 990T so banning the use of the machines in other non-profits forms a monopoly and advantage to these fraternal orders. In addition, the ability for these fraternal orders to have these machines available in publicly available spaces will further damage any of the non-profits ability to become relatively self sustaining.
This whole gaming legislation debacle started with VA State Senator Bryce Reeves. He is against all charitable gaming. If you are a fraternal member don't vote for him. He is a Republican that for some reason wants government to stick its nose in your business.
I have 7 smaller lodges in my district, that relay a lot on the gaming proceeds to assist in keeping the doors open, items such as payroll, power bills, improvements, smaller lodges sometimes fall onto hard time, & fortunately they have gaming to fall back on for necessities that other wise may not be able to be taken care.. As we all know these percentages are going to have severe negative effects on a lot of the smaller lodges throughout the state, I understand that everyone wants to get a piece of the proceeds, but when is enough enough?? The large casinos coming into the area are better capable of larger percentages, while most smaller organizations are all give a vast majority of proceeds back to the communities, you have already taken in so many ways from the communities, our elderly, our veterans & our children in failed projects & broken promises, it's time to stop following a political agenda & start taking care of the communities & the people that entrusted you in the offices you hold.
Respectfully;
James West
Our needs as non-profit organizations are great. We use our gaming to put money back into our community, help keep our lights on and to help meet some of our payroll costs. Without being able to distribute our gaming funds where we need it most is going to be a major handicap for ALL non-profit organizations. Our community will be affected by these stiff mandates that has passed. Please don't take our ability to help our community impossible. NON PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS ARE PRIMARILY RAN WITH VOLUNTEERS .
Sincerely Bonnie Murray
I feel the percentage that is considered to be taken is unfair to local smaller organizations, groups, and clubs that we give donations. The more you take from us the less we can donate.
I am shocked with all that I have read. We as fraternal organizations like the Moose have been operating since the early 1900's. We have had many obstacles to overcome throughout the years. However, this one is going to be the biggest yet. All of our communities state wide are going to suffer because of this tax / use of proceeds. A lot of us will have to close our doors. With that being said. The local battered women's shelter will not receive money to help purchase clothes, toiletries and makeup to cover their tenants horrifying experiences. The local little league baseball team won't be able to go to the little league world series to compete. Countless other examples have been mentioned in other comments in this forum. Please consider reducing the amount of the percentage. Please find another solution that helps everyone. Please don't kill the fraternal organization.
Thank you for your time in this matter,
Chris Mcfaden
The amount of 40% of net proceeds from electronic gaming going to donations would put lots of lodges at a strain to maintain their Social Quarters .Electronic gaming has been a wonderful thing for lodges with gaming over the past few years, our lodge alone donates to agencies such as Massy Cancer ,St Jude, all local fire & rescue as well as local schools just to mention a few. Our lodge does use electronic gaming to cover payroll expenses as well as internet cost and electric bills because without all of the mention there would not be charitable gaming in our lodges. Giving to charities is a wonderful thing and I do not know of any lodge that does not give their fair share. I also believe that raising the amount to 20% or even 25% would not hurt our lodges but 40% is just too high of a number and we also need to continue using electronic gaming for such expenses as payroll & utilities
40 percent gaming is way to high and are money should be able to use for pay roll and and bills are lodge cant make it without using money from gaming , are lodge will not be able to help are community that may be in need if we have to pay 40 percent , thank you for your time
I am a proud Vietnam Veteran and have seen many things dealing with vets and our organizations over the years but these regulations are near the top.
I supported Sen. Bryce Reeves when his mission was to stop the charitable gaming vendors from manipulating the rules to make themselves more money. They were taking advantage of our organizations while working behind the scenes to skirt the laws in order to make larger profits.
The legislatures I have spoken with all felt the regulations were setup to limit these scrupulous companies from hiding behind real organizations to make their own money. Instead they played the bait and switch, these companies who acted like they were working with our groups back stabbed us all and worked out a deal to not have any regulations on them.
Then the regulations are left up to one person to develop, do you honestly feel these companies haven't been in his pocket? We need to stand up, get in touch with out elected officials and put these regulations on who they were intended for, the BIG GAME COMPANIES. They were the ones that got us in this situation and they still get 50%, the real charitable groups took a hit to 10%. That is where the problem is, take money from the rich and give to the poor NOT THE OPPOSITE.
Here at Richmond East Moose Lodge & throughout our great fraternity we thrive on being able to donate to many organizations & First Responders & people of need in general. We support our local little league, Tiki 5-0 foundation, Massey Cancer & We provide a clean safe environment for the local Girl Scouts to hold meetings. We our proud of our many donations we are able to do as a lodge in whole. I truly think that 40% of the net profit is a way of crippling the non profits in the state. that truly leaves 10% for the lodges in general & to stipulate no wages is crippling to daily functions of how we can keep helping the community we in. We have Two handicap individual's that we employ at the lodge. One has a life coach that helps him do daily task giving him a way to have a future thru contributing in the work force. The other is a 60-year-old man, that has no other job or job to go to and with his job here has given him a way to buy his own items & feel as if his handicap isn't holding him back. Without being able to use our gaming funds we wouldn't be able to continue employing these gentlemen. We also have employees that we would have to cut back due to the cost of operations in general. That as a employer feels awful to know that we have to make cuts to good people who need jobs themselves not because business is slow but being Crippled due to stipulations. Please Reconsider use of proceeds as we do in Bingo 10% would be very helpful to the community and allowing the lodges to survive & continue doing great things in our community 40 or even 30% of net gross is a cost that is unfair to the organizations & basically a controlled state tax that shouldn't be stated tax but a fee. Please reconsider & be fair with the people who help the community as much as anyone does . Thank You, Jody Tallent.
I understand the gaming commision would like to have our lodge to use more of the money we take in to use for wages. since we try to keep our meals and other events as cheap as possible we use bingo money to offsit this cost. if this happens we will have a hard time doing this without raising priceses to our members. I hope you will continue to let us use bingo money to offsit this matter
I am writing on behalf of the Board for Mount Jackson Moose Lodge 979.
We respectfully request the following changes to the proposed regulations:
In order to maintain gaming, our Lodge needs to be able to pay the employees who will be managing and maintaining the gaming, which for our small Lodge is an always available option.
For our small Lodge, this requirement will be difficult and will require additional time and resources. We currently make weekly deposits of all funds to all our accounts.
The addition of this fee (in addition to the general gaming fees) appears redundant.
Please do not change the guidelines and rules for the game machines in the Moose Lodge is in the area. We enjoy playing the games, but it also brings income into our lodge it helps us with their projects and our fundraising and our day-to-day running of the lodge.
Use of Proceeds & Gaming Funds – We have heard that UOP could be 40% or 28%. This would really dip into funds to be used in social quarters. Unlike bingo that is normally a public event the gaming in social quarters will be our member’s money. The requirement to use most of these funds outside our social quarters/Aerie is a conflict of the purpose of a 501 (C)(8) organization, fraternalism and helping one another. We consider the electronic gaming devices as a form of entertainment for our members and a means to keep our social quarter financially stable.
Being a relatively small Aerie (around 200 members) with about 25% active participating members, our operating budget is already tight. Looking at our 3rd quarter totals, after paying the supplier, earmarking 28% for UOP, our net was less than $50 per day. It is our understanding that the gaming funds can not be used for salaries or for members.
The question remains, what can the funds be used for?
If our Aerie or members cannot benefit from the funds from these devices, then why have them?
Gaming Manager – The requirement to have a Gaming Manager present when devices are being played is understandable. This is also a requirement for bingo sessions. Current regulations allow Bingo Managers to be paid $100 per session. Shouldn’t the same apply for Electronic Gaming Sessions?
Permitted days and Times – The requirement to report any change in day/time of the social quarters being open as stated on permit could be an administrative burden for us and the Department of Charitable Gaming. If all members leave the Aerie, it will only make sense to close early. The requirement to notify DCG and amend permit would be cumbersome for all concerned.
Frequency of Reporting – We have heard that daily reports and deposits may be a requirement. Our opinion is this is an overkill. This will require additional time and gas to go to the bank every day. The vendor invoices weekly and it would seem this would be a reasonable reporting period. Our daily deposit could likely be less than $100.
I have been a member for about ten years and our post is not open to the public on our electronic games, so with that in mind the money collected is from our members for operation of building. So why do the members have to pay 40% of our income out to charity? Take a hard look at this and the other organizations that it will affect in locking there doors with no more charity help for the community.
We are a private fraternal organization. Our members play the machines. Now quests can play with a member's money. But we can't pay employees to police this policy?
Can we use gaming proceeds to pay bills? No gaming money, no electric, no water, no internet to keep the machines connected and no building because we can't pay insurance and the mortgage or do upkeep on the building and grounds.
Members spend their money to play the machines at the lodge, but we can't use that money to have entertainment in the Social Quarters for the members who play the machines and keep the lodge going?
Why 40% donations? Bingo which is open to the public is 10%.
What will count as UOP to meet the 40%? Please spell out exactly what we can use as UOP.
Do the Casino's have to make large donations as well?
Do the gas station "Skill" games have to make donations?
Lets be fair here.
The Moose Fraternity is an International Organization of men and women dedicated to caring for young and old, bringing communities closer together, and celebrating life.
Moose membership is based on being charitable and supporting our community. However, Moose members want something in return for paying their dues. We provide them a safe, clean, well-organized place to spend their free time with family and friends. They also enjoy that they can socialize, eat, and drink at reasonable prices; but we cannot offer them this advantage if we cannot afford to keep our Lodges open!
I read a lot of the previous messages, but I was really impressed by the one from the Lady at Smyth Mountain Lake Moose. So, I copied and pasted it below. She hits the nail on the head!
We are a private fraternal organization. Our members play the machines. Now quests can play with a member's money. But we can't pay employees to police this policy!
Can we use gaming proceeds to pay bills? No gaming money, no electric, no water, no internet to keep the machines connected and no building because we can't pay insurance and the mortgage or do upkeep on the building and grounds.
Members spend their money to play the machines at the lodge, but we can't use that money to have entertainment in the Social Quarters for the members who play the machines and keep the lodge going?
Why 40% donations? Bingo which is open to the public is 10%.
What will count as UOP to meet the 40%? Please spell out exactly what we can use as UOP.
Do the Casinos have to make large donations as well?
Do the gas station "Skill" games have to make donations?
Let's be fair here.
The proposal for charitable organizations gaming proceeds to be dictated by legislation must be reconsidered. I wonder how many on this legislative committee has seen, first hand, or is a member of such an organization and the vast impact in has on the charities in the community and nationwide. The staff and operational expenses have a direct impact on the charitable operations and donations each of these civic groups provide. Without the social aspect of these organizations, there will be no charitable donations. Why dictate to these organizations on how they spend the gaming profits when ultimately it goes to the community and charities. Please reconsider and get connected and knowledgeable on on the negative impact it will have on our community and your voting constituents.
We should be able to pay the Administrator from the proceeds with as much paperwork as is entailed for us to do. I spend a considerable amount of time doing paperwork and keeping records straight for the report as well as for inspection and records now. The Administrator is responsible for all the accounts plus the business of the lodge. We are running four things. Also, the internet is required for us to use e-gaming. The electricity that they require to run 24 hours a day even if we aren't open. The supplies that go into all the paperwork that is stored and printed, how about the computer and the printing that goes into all of it? The phone bill part of that should be allowed for faxing and reporting. Not everyone is totally tech. up to date yet. I heard of some businesses that are not even using a cash register yet.
Sabrina Yazwinsky,
Acting Administrator
I have three questions. First, how was it determined that 40% is the appropriate number? Why not 30 or 50% instead. Why 40%?
Secondly, did you know when you decided on that percentage that the charitable organizations already also give 50% to the gaming company? If you did, then adding 40% was done intentionally to close most of the charitable organizations.
This creates my 3rd question. Who or what organization wants us closed?
If 10% to charity is good enough for the Feds, than 10% should be good enough for the Commonwealth.
After attending the Charitable Gaming class there's alot of concern about the UOP. Not being able to use gaming money to pay bills like pay roll and purchase beer , liquor and food is going to effect our business in a negative way. We also donate alot of this money to area schools, Fire departments, Rescue squad, and Sheriff's Departments. Just to name a few. $40% would leave really nothing for the lodge or to the local first responders who we donate too. Private organizations like ours will slowly dissappear . Leaving organizations that depends on our donations nothing. Please revisit your decission on private clubs as we help our communitys and provide jobs for many people.
Dear Sir/Madam/Chairman,
This comment is based on the information I read about changing the "Virginia Gaming Distribution" policy.
The purpose of this email is to provide my comments in regards to changing the distribution requirements for proceeds generated from the use of "slot machines" in the state of Virginia. With these changes, it will only make it harder for local gaming organizations to stay open and provide a reduced amount of distributions to charity as a result of this proposed policy change.
Actions to Consider
Item 1- Do nothing. Leave Existing Policy in place.
Item 2- Close ALL Slot Machines within the state of Virginia, Except Casinos, thus eliminating all charitable donations in the state of Virginia. Ending donations to Charitable Organizations shall include items such as scholarships, trips and all other associated events.
Item 3- With only casinos left to operate in Virginia there shall be requirements included for the casinos to subsidize the donations previously made by local non charitable organizations from their proceeds.
Item 4- Assure that none of the money collected by the state of Virginia from this policy change, is used to increase the government agencies for oversite or to create additional oversite agencies for gaming in Virginia. No additional money should be generated and used for this purpose.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully Submitted,
Robert D. Mobley