MILLIONAIRE PARTIES; LICENSES                                                                  S.B. 564:

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                     REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bill 564 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Michael D. MacDonald

Committee:  Regulatory Reform

CONTENT

The bill would amend the Bingo Act to do the following:

-- Waive a $50-per-day millionaire party license fee, beginning on the bill's effective date and before January 1, 2024.

-- Allow a qualified organization to be issued up to six millionaire party licenses in calendar years 2021, 2022, and 2023.

-- Allow, beginning on the bill's effective date until January 1, 2024, a millionaire party licensee to receive up to $30,000, instead of $20,000, in exchange for imitation money or chips on any day the licensee conducts a millionaire party.

-- Increase the daily limit, from $80,000 to $120,000, divided by the number of days of gaming allowed under the license, if the millionaire party met certain conditions, beginning on the bill's effective date and before January 1, 2024.

MCL 432.134 & 432.141                                         Legislative Analyst:  Christian Schmidt

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would have a negative fiscal impact on the Michigan Gaming Control Board, as it would waive the $50-per-day license fee for calendar years 2021, 2022, and 2023. In calendar year 2020, there were 1,494 party-event days, which generated $74,700 in fee revenue. Before 2020, roughly 8,000 party-event days occurred annually on average, which represents $400,000 generated in fee revenue annually. As gaming activity is expected to pick up after 2020, the number of party-event days likely will increase from 2020. The total potential revenue loss over 2021, 2022, and 2023 likely would be no more than $1.0 million. The fee revenue that these parties generate does not represent a significant amount of the Michigan Gaming Control Board's total operating budget, but the loss of fee revenue could affect some oversight of the millionaire party gaming activities.

Date Completed:  9-21-21                                                    Fiscal Analyst:  Cory Savino

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.