SB 146-GAMING; ELECTRONIC PULL-TABS  6:36:12 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 146 "An Act relating to pull- tabs; relating to persons prohibited from involvement in gaming; and relating to the duties of the Department of Revenue." [Before the committee is CS for HB 146, work order 33-GS1054\S, as the working document.] 6:37:46 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN opened public testimony on SB 146. 6:38:05 PM JOHN POWERS, Owner, Tudor Bingo Center, Anchorage, Alaska, testified in opposition to the CS for SB 146. He said he and other pull tab stakeholders had reviewed [the CS for SB 146]. He noted the announcement that there were some new changes coming out. He said the stakeholders simply could not assess the positive or negative impacts to the charities in such a short amount of time. He said they were putting together a group of Alaskan gaming industry experts to review all the impacts to the charities and businesses involved in charitable gaming. The charitable gaming group consisted of leaders from all the different gaming types, such as Multiple-beneficiary permit holders (MBPs), vendors, self-directed operators like himself, fraternal organizations and distributors. He said they did not include electronic pull tab manufacturers, because the assembled group believed the manufacturers had a conflict of interest and didn't necessarily keep the charities' interests in the forefront of changes to the regulation. He said the assembled charitable gaming group had scheduled meetings and were recruiting from the different types of gaming operations and different geographic locations around the state of Alaska. He noted that Senators Gray-Jackson and Dunbar agreed that it was a good idea for Alaskans involved in charitable gaming to tackle this issue and see if they could come up with some kind of electronic pull tab legislation that would benefit the charities more than the manufacturers. 6:40:17 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN asked whether Mr. Powers could suggest an appropriate number for the limit to the number of pull tab devices in a store. 6:40:31 PM Mr. Powers said the stakeholders had not had an opportunity to assess that. He explained that it would depend in part on the size and type of the establishment. He noted that he operated a 1,200 square foot pull tab store and a 20,000 square foot bingo hall. He explained that the assembled group of shareholders intended to consider this type of factor and layout some sidebars. 6:41:38 PM SENATOR MERRICK mentioned that she had a conflict of interest because a charity her husband led received charitable gaming proceeds from the Tudor Bingo Center (Mr. Powers' establishment). 6:42:10 PM DAVID LAMBERT, Charitable Gaming, Fairbanks, Alaska, testified on HB 146. He expressed support for the ongoing legislative changes in charitable gaming, however, he emphasized the complexity of the changes and the need for a task force to protect nonprofit interests. He highlighted the current regulations' lack of restrictions on machine placement and the necessity to safeguard nonprofits. He raised concerns about increasing machine profit limits to $5 million, as many nonprofits would not have the opportunity to receive funds until another charity organization "maxes out". Lambert advocated for collaboration among the stakeholders over the summer to formulate a legislative framework for that would support the nonprofit organizations. 6:43:57 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN said he looked forward to working with the charitable gaming stakeholders to deliver [good legislation] for the nonprofits. 6:44:20 PM CHAIR BJORKMAN closed public testimony on SB 146. 6:44:23 PM [CHAIR BJORKMAN held SB 146 in the Senate Labor and Commerce Standing Committee.]