HOUSE BILL NO. 128 "An Act relating to charitable gaming online ticket sales and activities." 2:02:18 PM REPRESENTATIVE ZACK FIELDS, SPONSOR, briefly reintroduced the bill. House Bill 128 ensured that charitable gaming operators could sell raffle tickets online. It would extend an authority established by regulation for the pandemic and proved to be beneficial in all circumstances. Co-Chair Merrick indicated Representative Edgmon had joined the meeting. She asked Connor Bell from the Legislative Finance Division to review the fiscal note. 2:03:17 PM CONNOR BELL, FISCAL ANALYST, LEGISLATIVE FINANCE DIVISION, reviewed the fiscal note associated with the legislation. The bill would allow for certain charitable gaming activities to be conducted online. The Department of Revenue (DOR) would need to establish standards for online ticket sales and guidelines. The department did not expect any change in revenues or operating expenditures and would be able to make any needed changes with its current resources. He indicated that while there might be some revenue impact, the total impact to the state for gaming was about $500,000 per year. Therefore, any impact to state revenue would be relatively small. Co-Chair Merrick reported Representative Wool had joined the meeting. Representative Wool asked Mr. Bell if state gaming revenue totaled about $500 million. He asked if the figure included all charitable gaming. Mr. Bell responded positively and clarified that the figure was net of expenses related to the administration of the tax. The amount did not reflect gross receipts. Co-Chair Merrick invited Ms. Glover from the Tax Division to comment. Mr. Connor added that the total UGF revenue from charitable gaming was about $2.4 million in FY 20. Representative Wool clarified that the net revenue for charitable gaming after expenses was $500,000. Mr. Bell thought the number was correct based on the fiscal note. The Department of Revenue could provide additional information. 2:05:50 PM COLLEEN GLOVER, DIRECTOR, TAX DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE (via teleconference), reported that the annual proceeds for all charitable gaming revenue was $2.4 million. The majority of revenue came from pull tab taxes comprising approximately $2.0 million of the $2.5 million in gaming revenues. The bill did not impact the pull tab tax. The other revenue to the state included a net proceeds fee (net proceeds on on proceeds over $20,000). There were also license and permit fees of about $500,000 per year. Those would be the only proceeds impacted by the bill. Representative Wool asked whether it would make a significant revenue impact if there was a sudden surge in ticket sales. Ms. Glover replied that it would take a large quantity of additional sales to generate significant revenue. Representative Wool queried about Bingo revenues. Ms. Glover responded that Bingo comprised about 10 percent of the $500,000 in gaming revenues. Representative LeBon noted the non-profit community participating in Bingo or other gaming events realized a significant benefit. He spoke based on his tenure on the Fairbanks Downtown Association. The association was a beneficiary of a downtown Bingo operation. He wondered how much a non-profit community would benefit. Representative Fields had heard that some non-profits had doubled their income on certain events even during the pandemic. He thought it was surprising in a positive way. He hoped it was the case more broadly with the authority in the legislation. Only time would tell whether there would be gains on a sustained basis. 2:09:28 PM Co-Chair Merrick OPENED public testimony. 2:09:42 PM Co-Chair Merrick CLOSED public testimony. Co-Chair Merrick indicated amendments were due by noon on Sunday, March 28, 2021. She intended to take up amendments on Monday and pass the bill out of committee if possible. 2:10:06 PM AT EASE 2:10:49 PM RECONVENED