Save California Drum Corps

[Jeff DeMello]

Latest from the powers that be:

We need to get the WORLD to call the CA senators TODAY and TOMORROW. This is not about debating the issues .. this is about doing the right thing for the State and thousands of charities. This bill is irresponsible to be pushed through with out ANY discussions, analysis and education of the facts. We stand for Responsible Governing for ALL not ONLY the BIG and POWERFUL ... proper discussions with adequate time .. that can only happen in the next legislative session

FLOOD THE phone banks with calls now.

Todays update is that SB1369 is going to the Assembly and most likely will pass there today. Our hope is the California State Senate will delay the bill to the next legislative session. If you are writing and calling please:

FIRST

Call your local representative specially STATE SENATOR

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

SECOND

Call Darrell Steinberg

Phone: (916) 651-4006

Fax: (916) 323-2263

THIRD

Call Don Perata

Phone: (916) 651-4009

Fax: (916) 327-199

FORUTH

Call Blue Devils representative

Senator Tom Torlakson

916-651-4007

FIFTH

Write and call ALL State Senators

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/sen-addresses.html

If it passes it must go to the Governor for him to sign.

Here are same main points to use in any discussions

There is NO bingo crisis in California. Neither permitting two large charities to conduct remote caller bingo, nor changing state law regarding bingo address any crises. It does not need to be jammed through in the final days without public knowledge and all voices heard. The Indians are not being impacted and the only groups this bill helps is a VERY VERY few charities, at the expense of hundreds of other charities. This is a BIG money special interest political tug of war at its worse.

A FEW KEY POINTS

• This bill will significantly hurt and cripple most ALL nonprofit charitable bingo games, whether they use electronic, paper or a combination throughout the state, not just a few using electronics in Sacramento County.
  
• The elimination of all electronic games will put out of business MANY community and smaller charities.
  
• It not only eliminates electronics, but traditional (paper) games will be significantly hurt by this bill.
  
• Raising the $250 prize limit to $500 will hurt paper games, Bingos will not be able to increase "buy ins" and it will not substantially be able to increase the number of players, but the costs of payouts will probably double.
  
• Remote Calling Bingo or "lotteries" will dwarf, dominate and put out of business most all paper bingo games. -- “life-altering prizes,” ** says the Rev. Joseph Shea, pastor Simi Valley who was the main advocate of the bill.
  
• Electronic games have supported the dwindling paper games and without that revenue, paper alone would not cover the costs of running bingo consequently forcing a bingo game to shut down.
  
• Handheld restrictions will possibly make using these machines not viable as it relates to older sections of 326.5 that were not updated.
  
• This will create lotteries on a unprecedented scale by Indian Casinos and groups like the Catholic Church and competitively exclude most current charitable games. "Life Altering Prizes" many times during a one week span throughout the year.
  
• Legality issues and compact violations not the whole truth.
  
• Not all electronic bingo is viewed as illegal by the state or even opposed by some Indian Causes.
  
• Current lawsuit and injunction by federal court upheld removal of some electronic games.
  
• Some electronic games have been inspected and allowed by the AG office and local communities.
  
• Independent commission formed by AG's office said publicly - they were not in violation of the compact.
  
• Indians do not even want to talk or consider any forms of electronics, even the mutually assumed legal equipment.
  
• Remote bingos will be lotteries and ONLY available for churches, fraternal organizations and existing multiple locations driving community PAPER games out of business
  Organizations like Churches, Elks Clubs, Other Clubs, Fraternal Organizations, Police Leagues, Goodwill, Salvation Army , etc will benefit because of existing multiple locations. Most of these organizations listed do not today even have a viable bingo operation currently and are already funding their needs with other means.
  
• As an amendment and NOT originally part of the bill, 10 independent organizations can connect remotely. This is not reasonable or practical and could not compete against the thousand of locations by the churches and clubs.
  
• These one day a week games will proliferate and will be giving out $100,000, if not million dollar prizes weekly.
  
• Under compact if this bill passes the Indians now can also do Remote Calling Games.
  
• California of Nonprofit Association (CAN) misrepresented the facts. Senator Cedillo a sponsor of the bill used the number of 1,800 charities. That is the number of charities involved in CAN. Most do not run Bingos. CAN never talked with charitable bingos. CAN did not even poll their own members. Charities across the state do not know of this bill. This is being pushed by a Catholic Church in Simi Valley, Elks Club and one remote calling bingo manufacturer who will have a monopoly on this business. These few will be the beneficiaries at the huge expense of hundreds of other non-profits.
  
• These charities are good charities and do not deserve to be put out of business.
  
• There is NO good aspect of this bill for most nonprofit charitable games in California. Only a VERY FEW organizations does it help at the expense of hundreds of other charities.
  
• These games DO NOT impact the Indians. All Sacramento county charities combined in a year raise 5 million dollars. An Indian casino does almost that much in profit in a day.
  
• The Indian tribes, with a $7 Billion a year casino market, are not being impacted by charity bingo. The tribes operate tens of thousands of slot machines, and have the right to operate an unlimited number of Class II bingo machines of the type they wish to deny to the charities – without a state compact or revenue sharing.
  

Financial Impacts for The State

It can be estimated over 1,000 charities and WELL over 200 million dollars will go away. Services will go away and groups will now turn to the State for this money.. Marathon Distributers one of the largest bingo suppliers in the state estimates by their records between 100 and 200 million dollars net to charities throughout the state.

There are fees in the millions of dollars collected by local communities that allow bingo in their area that would go away if bingo went away - this would negatively effect local governments.

Many state wide remote games, "lotteries" will quickly appear awarding “life-altering prizes”. No bingo knowledge is required, just many locations and a non-profit status. They will open up a remote game on Monday, collect money throughout the week, Sunday run a ten minute easy bingo game and give away hundreds of thousands - possibly millions of dollars in prizes. Multiply this by many games a week - EVERY week of the year. This will greatly impact the state lottery when this hits it stride. This will be the largest expansion of gaming since Prop 1A

Amendments Made to this Bill posted yesterday

The amendment to give 5 million dollar to charities as a one time payment to offset their electronic bingo income for one year is not acceptable. It is only a extremely short term solution and will not even come close to one year payment for charities because of the number of organizations that will apply and the amount much larger than 5 million dollars that will be claimed. AND will not solve the issue that traditional forms of bingo will be severely crippled and put out of business.

The added full day instead of one game in a week for remote calling bingo even further cements the death of all charitable bingo games throughout the state. Now ALL DAY there will be many "Life Altering Prizes" given away in MANY locations throughout the state on EVERY day of the week. The hidden agenda in the bill is with the elimination of all bingos throughout the state Indians Casinos will be able to offer bingos back in their location -- BUT more importantly be able to offer remote calling games, "Lotteries" during one day at a unprecedented amount of prizes. So now all multiple location charities like the Catholic Church and the Indians will be able to give out million dollar prizes. Huge expansion of gaming and lotteries that will kill charitable bingo and impact the State.

SO

There are many other misrepresentations that have been made and distortions of the facts and truth. This bill was not fully thought through. There was NO CONSIDERATION for the traditional (paper) game of bingo. It is a devastating bill that is having a band aid upon band aid attached. WIthout a full investigation, analysis and more time than 3-4 days during the final week of the session, the people being impacted have NOT had a chance to voice and deliver factual analysis. Specially when it impacts charities that help the needy, underprivileged and youth that the State can not - or does not help. The State has not even come close to an adequate analysis of the impact this has to the State. WE need to delay this bill to next legislative session!

There is a very good Editorial in the Sacramento Bee on Sunday. I am expecting today or tomorrow an article in the CC Times and San Jose Mercury News.

____________________________________________

Editorial: B-I-N-G-O V-E-T-O

Sunday August 24, 2008

http://www.sacbee.com/editorials/story/1179134.html

Every session of the Legislature offers several examples

of some big interest groups ganging up to kick the stuffing

out of a smaller interest group. In this session, the premier

example centers on the seemingly innocuous game of bingo.

_____________________________________________________

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support and congratulations getting to the end of this posting.

Dave

[Jeff DeMello]

BUMP ... PLEASE ACT ASAP!

Thanks in advance!

[Todd Tanji]

Tom Torlakson's FAX: 916-445-2527

Don Perata's FAX: 916-327-1997

[DCIHasBeen]

Called the top three of the Senator's named ... Don Perata is actually the State Senator from my District.

All three people I talked to mentioned that they, and their respective bosses, were aware of the Bill ... There is definitely something to be said for revisiting these legislators on a rotating basis, if only to keep the level of opposition chatter fresh in their minds.

[Michael Boo]

Please rate this thread so it gets stars and is more noticeable.

[JohnD]

All 3 have received calls and messages from me, as well as my local State Senator. We have to keep the pressure up if we're going to have a prayer of defeat against the big-money lobby.

EVERYONE can help with this, not just California residents, by making a call. The California legislature needs to know that the public is interested in this bill and wants to see it defeated. There was NO mandate from the voters to give the gaming interests carte blanche to do whatever they want in the state.

Please do what you can to help.

Thank you.

-john

[Linda Slocum]

IMPORTANT:

When the Senator's offices listed in Jeff's post ask whether you're from Sacramento or not, if you say NO then they will NOT log your call request.

For your local senators, of course tell them you're in their district and that you vote.

[DCIHasBeen]

IMPORTANT:

When the Senator's offices listed in Jeff's post ask whether you're from Sacramento or not, if you say NO then they will NOT log your call request.

For your local senators, of course tell them you're in their district and that you vote.

Not true ... I identified my self as being from Alameda County, and they all logged the calls.

[Linda Slocum]

Not true ... I identified my self as being from Alameda County, and they all logged the calls.

Guess it depends on who you talk to... I had one lady in a Sacramento office who gave me a bit of a hard time.

[Jeff DeMello]

I've just completed faxing EVERY Senator at EVERY ONE of their offices! If you would like to do the same, here's the list of fax numbers:

Sen. Sam Aanestad

- 916.445.7750

Sen. Dick Ackerman

- 916.445.9754

- 714.573.1859

Sen. Elaine Alquist

- 916.324.0283

- 408.847.6096

Sen. Roy Ashburn

- 916.322.3504

- 661.323.0446

Sen. James Battin

- 916.327.2187

- 760.568.1501

Sen. Ron Calderon

- 916.327.8755

- 323.890.2795

Sen. Gilbert Cedillo

- 916.327.8817

- 213.612.9591

Sen. Dave Cogdill

- 916.327.3523

- 209.599.8547

- 559.253.7127

Sen. Ellen Corbett

- 916.327.2433

- 510.577.2308

Sen. Louis Correa

- 714.558.4111

Sen. Dave Cox

- 916.324.2680

- 916.783.5487

- 530.283.3439

Sen. Jeff Denham

- 916.445.0773

- 209.577.4963

- 209.726.5498

- 831.769.8086

Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny

- 916.327.3522

- 619.409.7688

- 760.335.3444

Sen. Bob Dutton

- 916.327.2272

- 951.715.2627

- 909.466.4185

Sen. Dean Florez

- 916.327.5989

- 661.395.2622

- 559.445.6506

Sen. Tom Harman

- 916.445.9263

- 714.952.4560

Sen. Dennis Hollingsworth

- 915.447.9008

- 619.596.3140

- 951.676.1030

Sen. Christine Kehoe

- 916.327.2188

- 619.645.3144

Sen. Sheila Kuehl

- 916.324.4823

- 310.441.0724

Sen. Alan Lowenthal

- 916.327.9113

- 562.529.6662

Sen. Mike Machado

- 916.323.2304

- 707.454.3811

- 916.323.2596

- 209.948.7993

Sen. Abel Maldonado

- 916.445.8081

- 831.657.6320

- 408.277.9464

- 805.549.3779

Sen. Bob Margett

- 916.324.0922

- 626.914.8976

Sen. Tom McClintock

- 916.324.7544

- 805.494.8812

Sen. Carole Migden

- 916.445.4722

- 415.479.1146

- 415.557.1252

Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod

- 916.445.0128

- 909.621.7483

- 909.381.0739

Sen. Jenny Oropeza

- 916.323.6056

- 310.318.6733

Sen. Alex Padilla

- 916.324.6645

- 818.901.5562

Sen. Don Perata

- 916.327.1997

- 510.286.3885

- 916.323.2777

Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas

- 916.445.8894

- 213.745.6722

Sen. Gloria Romero

- 916.445.0485

- 323.881.0101

Sen. George Runner

- 916.445.4662

- 760.843.8348

- 661.729.1683

- 661.286.2543

Sen. Jack Scott

- 916.324.7543

- 626.793.5803

Sen. S. Joseph Simitan

- 916.323.4529

- 831.425.5124

- 650.688.6370

Sen. Darrell Steinberg

- 916.323.2263

- 916.327.8754

- 916.338.6586

Sen. Tom Torlakson

- 916.445.2527

- 925.602.6596

Sen. Edward Vincent

- 916.445.3712

- 310.412.0996

Sen. Patricia Wiggins

- 916.323.6958

- 707.445.6511

- 707.224.1992

- 707.562.2773

- 707.468.8913

- 707.648.5383

Sen. Mark Wyland

- 916.446.7382

- 760.931.2477

- 949.489.8354

Sen. Leland Yee

- 916.327.2186

- 415.557.7864

- 650.340.1661

(if there are transcription errors ... sorry!!!)