Delaware General Assembly

Signed 1/28/10

The General Assembly has ended, the current status is the final status.

1/15/10

Schwartzkopf

Sen. DeLuca, Blevins, Henry, Cook, Bushweller, Hall-Long, Ennis
Reps. Viola, Gilligan, Q. Johnson, Mulrooney, Carson, J. Johnson, Barbieri, Kowalko, Scott, Longhurst, Brady, Mitchell, Cathcart, D. Short, Kovach, Hudson, Ramone, D.P. Williams

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 3, 11 AND 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE OPERATION OF TABLE GAMES BY THE DELAWARE LOTTERY, THE CREATION OF A DIVISION OF GAMING ENFORCEMENT WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY, LICENSING OF VIDEO LOTTERY AGENT PERSONNEL AND LOTTERY AND AGENT VENDORS, PROHIBITION ON GAMING BY CERTAIN PERSONS, THE CREATION OF A LOTTERY COMMISSION, AND THE NUMBER OF HARNESS RACING DAYS.

This bill authorizes the introduction and operation of table games by the Delaware Lottery at licensed video lottery agents. Like the video lottery, the table games would be offered on the premises of Delaware's video lottery agents. The Delaware Lottery would determine which table games would be played and establish regulations for the effective management of the games. Proceeds from the operation of the Delaware Lottery would be paid to the Delaware Lottery, which would keep a portion of those proceeds to cover its administrative expenses and its law-enforcement and security expenses, as well as an amount to fund programs for the treatment, education and assistance of compulsive gamblers, with the remainder contributed to the General Fund. This bill also imposes a license fee structure that will reward video lottery agents for making capital investments by allowing them to reduce the annual license fee by up to 50% to account for the cost of capital projects, and that reduces the total license fee further if the video lottery agents are able to achieve certain table gaming revenue annual targets. As such, this bill promotes capital investment by video lottery agents, incentivizes the video lottery agents to achieve reasonable revenue targets, and creates additional new employment opportunities. This bill would also authorize the creation of a Lottery Commission, which would have responsibility for conducting hearings on disputed licensing and exclusion matters, as well as the issuance of regulations beginning in the next fiscal year. This bill would also authorize a Division of Gaming Enforcement in the Department of Safety and Homeland Security. That Division, part of which would consist of Delaware State Police investigators, would be responsible for investigating table gaming crimes, as well as the background checks currently being conducted by the Video Lottery Enforcement Unit of the State Police. This bill also makes certain changes to the Delaware criminal laws to ensure that prohibitions on transporting table game equipment will not inhibit the Lottery. Finally, it provides that the addition of table gaming in Delaware will not affect the number of harness racing days.

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Takes effect upon being signed into law

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