2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB2820
HB2820 doubles the ordinary dollar ceiling on operating capital that a licensed charitable-bingo organization may retain in its bingo account, from $50,000 to $100,000.
Official caption: Relating to the maximum amount of operating capital retained in a licensed authorized organization's charitable bingo account.
Official report lists House author(s): Louderback. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.
Bill highlights
Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.
- HB2820 doubles the ordinary dollar ceiling on operating capital that a licensed charitable-bingo organization may retain in its bingo account, from $50,000 to $100,000.
- The higher ceiling is not an automatic right for every organization to retain $100,000.
- Existing authority to allow a higher limit by rule or on an individual request remains, as does the separate statutory framework for exceptions and waivers.
What does it do?
HB2820 doubles the ordinary dollar ceiling on operating capital that a licensed charitable-bingo organization may retain in its bingo account, from $50,000 to $100,000. For organizations operating together as a unit, the ceiling becomes $100,000 per member organization, rather than $50,000 per member. The law took effect June 20, 2025. Final law
The higher ceiling is not an automatic right for every organization to retain $100,000. The unchanged expense-based rule also matters: operating capital is tied to actual average quarterly bingo expenses during the preceding license period, excluding prizes paid. The act changes the dollar ceilings, not that calculation.
Existing authority to allow a higher limit by rule or on an individual request remains, as does the separate statutory framework for exceptions and waivers. The bingo-account law also separately excludes specified prize fees from the capital calculation. HB2820 does not itself increase bingo prizes, award grant money, remove licensing requirements or eliminate account-management rules. Full account framework
What changed along the way?
The operative proposal—raising the two $50,000 figures to $100,000—remained the same in all five posted versions. Although the House reported a committee substitute and revised the caption, the compared operative text did not change. The amendment index lists no floor amendments. Filed text; all versions
The House passed the bill 118–28, with one present but not voting; the Senate passed it 28–3. Both votes met the immediate-effect threshold, and the governor signed it June 20, 2025. Official history
For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.
Official bill versions
Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.
Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?
Licensed organizations with sufficiently high operating expenses may retain a larger cash cushion for running bingo, reducing pressure to seek individual exceptions to the former ceiling. Charitable beneficiaries could benefit from more stable operations, but retaining additional money can also affect when cash is available for charitable purposes. The bill does not guarantee more revenue or charitable distributions.
The May 16 fiscal note, the latest listed, anticipates no significant state or local fiscal effect and assumes administrative costs fit existing resources. The April 14 and April 21 notes agree. They do not quantify the effect on individual organizations or their charitable beneficiaries.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
