State Rep. Calls for Higher Charity Game Prize Limits

A state senator wants charities in Pennsylvania to have the opportunity to raise more money on “small games of chance.” For the second year in a row Rep. Ron Marsico has introduced a bill to raise the weekly prize limit for charity games from $5,000 to $20,000 while t the same time upping the single game payout from $500 to $1,000. Marsico says as the popularity of the games increase many fire companies, churches and other groups are hitting their prize limits 3 or 4 days into the week and they are being forced to shut down operations. He says with an ever-increasing need to raise larger amounts of money, charities cannot afford to stop fundraising mid week. The bill easily passed the house last year but then Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Gib Armstrong refused to call the bill in his committee. Armstrong retired in December and new committee chair Jake Corman says he will call the bill if it is passed by the house. The measure also allows a single building to play host to games of chance sponsored by more than one charity.