Corbett may boost small-game limits
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After talking about it for more than a decade, state legislators have given Gov. Tom Corbett a bill that boosts bingo and other small-games-of-chance jackpots -- and also potentially boosts the fundraising abilities of veterans groups, fire companies, church organizations and social clubs across the state.
And that boosted the spirits of Joe Gavita of the Crescent Township Volunteer Fire Department only a few miles from Pittsburgh International Airport.
"Oh, this is fantastic," said Mr. Gavita, who had served until recently as the Crescent VFD president, which has hosted a bingo every Sunday night for years, drawing between 80 to 100 players per night on average. It's the single biggest fundraiser the fire department holds, and "it keeps us going throughout the whole year," Mr. Gavita said.
With a social hall that holds as many as about 300 people, there's plenty of space to accommodate more players, and he hopes they'll come now that jackpots can be higher.
"We've had free spaghetti dinners with the bingo, to try to pull more people in. Bigger prizes can be more of an incentive to come," he said.
On Jan. 25, the state House of Representatives overwhelmingly concurred on the state Senate version of House Bill 169, changing some of the regulations pertaining to prizes awarded by volunteer organizations licensed to hold small games of chance such as raffles, lotteries and bingo.
Those changes boost prize limits, raising a single chance payout from $500 to $1,000; increasing the weekly payout limit for an organization from $5,000 to $25,000; and upping raffle prizes from $5,000 to $10,000 per month. Fire and emergency-services groups will be permitted to hold raffles with $50,000 limits.
The governor is expected to sign into law the measure, which had broad bipartisan support.
The legislation was supported by the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Pennsylvania Federation of Fraternal and Social Organizations, and the Pennsylvania Association of Nationally Chartered Organizations.
Rick Hervol, president of the Strabane Lodge No. 138 SNPJ -- a Slovenian acronym for a social/service group that translates to Slovenian National Benefits Society -- said he's "excited" about the change.
First Published February 2, 2012 12:00 am
