The House of Delegates' Judiciary Committee on Feb. 20 passed out a bill that would allow charitable organizations to use electronic or mechanical raffle machines.
The bill is similar to a version the committee passed last year. However, that bill died in House Finance. The more recent bill would regulate the use of electronic machines used to raise money for "charitable or public service activity or endeavors" that help people by contributing to religious or educational purposes, relieving them from disease, distress, suffering or poverty or providing support for nonprofit community activities, among other purposes.
Committee counsel Bob Williams said these raffle machines aren't the gray machines that were outlawed a few years ago.
"Once they were outlawed, they had to pull those machines out," he said of the gray machines. He went on to say that the state tax department took issue with how those machines were set up and removed 168 unlawful machines from one location in central West Virginia.
An amendment to the bill, offered by Delegates Mike Manypenny, D-Taylor, and Larry Barker, D-Boone, would increase the maximum number of electronic raffle machines from one to three.
According to Williams, the machine can't affect the odds of winning in any way and the results of play are determined by information printed on the paper.
Only adults over the age of 18 can participate in these raffles, and the bill uses established penalties to punish the customers and organizations who break the law, including fines and jail time.
The bill has been reported out of the Judiciary Committee and will be reported to the full House as amended.
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