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House · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session

HB 455: Bingo; properties used for games; limit number of sessions; provisions

Last action July 1, 2026 · Effective Date

House Bill 455 rewrites Georgia's bingo licensing law to allow charities to run up to three bingo sessions a day at multiple locations, raise weekly prize limits, and pay helpers more per session.

Read the full bill text

These buttons carry the bill's own text, not the summaries below. Copy for LLM, View as markdown, and Send to AI use the Markdown version: the text as filed, then the summaries under a heading that names them as ours. View raw is the text alone.

The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.

In plain language

Georgia law lets nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations run bingo games under strict limits on where they can play, how often, how much they can pay in prizes, and how much they can pay people who help run the games. This bill loosens several of those limits. It lets an organization list multiple locations on its license instead of just one, and it removes the requirement that leased property be used regularly by the organization for other purposes. The bill raises the number of allowed bingo sessions from one per day to three per day (each still capped at five hours), and it caps joint operations at 31 sessions per month at a shared location instead of an 18 hour window. It doubles the weekly prize cap from $3,000 to $6,000, and it raises pay for people who help run games from $30 per day to $150 per session. The changes take effect once the Governor signs the bill, and repeal any conflicting laws.

What the bill does

  • Allows a bingo license to list multiple locations instead of just one single location for games.
  • Removes the requirement that leased bingo property be used regularly by the organization for purposes other than bingo.
  • Raises the daily session limit from one to three bingo sessions per day, each still capped at five hours.
  • Replaces the old 18 hour joint-operation restriction with a cap of 31 bingo sessions per month at a shared location.
  • Doubles the weekly prize limit from $3,000 to $6,000 in cash or equivalent gifts.
  • Raises the pay allowed for people who help run bingo games from $30 per day to $150 per session.

Who it affects

Nonprofit, tax-exempt organizations licensed to run bingo games in Georgia, the individuals who volunteer or work to help run those games, bingo players who might win larger prizes, and property owners who lease space to these organizations for bingo sessions.

Why it matters

Charities running bingo could hold more games, at more locations, and pay bigger prizes and higher fees to helpers, potentially increasing fundraising activity and payouts to both organizations and the people who assist them at bingo sessions across Georgia.

Key provisions

  • Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-12-53 to require applicants to list all locations where bingo will be conducted, not just one.
  • Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-12-57 to let organizations use leased property for bingo without requiring regular use for other purposes.
  • Section 3 amends O.C.G.A. § 16-12-60 to raise the daily session cap from one to three sessions of up to five hours each.
  • Section 3 also replaces the 18 hour joint-operation rule with a 31 sessions per month cap for shared premises used by multiple organizations.
  • Section 3 raises the weekly prize cap from $3,000 to $6,000 in cash or gifts of equivalent value.
  • Section 3 raises allowable pay for people assisting with bingo games from $30 per day to $150 per session.
  • Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.

From the bill

“It shall be unlawful to award prizes in excess of $3,000.00 $6,000.00 in cash or gifts of equivalent value during any calendar week.”

Shows the weekly prize cap being raised from $3,000 to $6,000.

Discussed in meetings (6)

The House and Senate meetings that took this bill up, from their machine transcripts. Each account was written by Georgia Commons with AI and is not part of the record; the video is what was said.

  1. Senate Economic Development and Tourism Committee, January 29, 2026

    From 0:18:38 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The sponsor said HB 455 would update outdated charitable bingo rules for nonprofits, including organizations operating at the Cloister and fraternal and military groups. The sponsor explained that it would allow multiple locations, permit up to three sessions daily lasting no more than five hours each, raise the weekly prize limit from $3,000 to $6,000, and increase permitted worker payments from $30 to $150 daily. The sponsor said crowded games and competing uses of ballrooms created a need for flexibility, while inflation made the existing worker-payment limit inadequate. The vice chair asked whether the bill affected raffle ticket sales, and the sponsor said it did not. Another member questioned the sponsor’s statement that Georgia had only two legal forms of gambling, asking about coin-operated amusement machines and whether gift cards differed meaningfully from cash. The sponsor described cash payouts as prohibited and discussed a planned July transition in gift-card payments. The sponsor also expressed support for directing potential gambling revenue toward healthcare, while explicitly discouraging an amendment to this bill. A motion to approve received a second, members voted by raised hands, and passage was confirmed. No count was stated.

  2. Senate Rules Committee, February 12, 2026

    From 0:13:54 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair presented HB 455, saying current bingo rules require an organization moving games to another building on the same property to repeat the approval process. The chair said the proposal would change those requirements and rules governing payouts and compensation for bingo operators, without specifying the new limits. The chair also expressed opposition to state regulation of bingo generally. No substantive questions or vote followed.

  3. Senate Rules Committee, February 17, 2026

    From 0:16:53 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair said HB 455 would allow bingo hosts to move games between facilities on their property without additional paperwork. The chair also said the bill would increase limits on payouts and compensation for the person running the games. The chair expressed opposition to state regulation of bingo generally. No questions or calendar action followed.

  4. Senate Rules Committee, February 19, 2026

    From 0:18:22 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The chair selected HB 455 for the next day's floor calendar in honor of the absent Rules chair. There was no substantive presentation or debate. The committee approved the five-bill calendar by voice vote, which the chair described as unanimous.

  5. Senate floor session, February 20, 2026 (legislative day 22)

    From 1:29:43 · Watch on the General Assembly's Vimeo channel · Confirmed by the bill's status history (Senate Third Read)

    Summary by Georgia Commons: The presenter said HB 455 would let an organization with multiple properties move bingo games between locations without applying again for a permit. The presenter said it would raise prizes from $3,000 to $6,000 and allowable pay for people assisting with games from $30 to $150 per session. The presenter also questioned whether the legislature should regulate bingo. No senators asked questions or spoke against the measure. The Senate passed it 38 to 8.

Status timeline

  1. 2026-07-01Effective Date
  2. 2026-05-12Act 714
  3. 2026-05-12House Date Signed by Governor (House)
  4. 2026-04-06House Sent to Governor (House)
  5. 2026-02-20Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
  6. 2026-02-20Senate Third Read (Senate)
  7. 2026-01-29Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
  8. 2026-01-12Senate Recommitted (Senate)
Show full history (19 actions)
  1. 2026-01-12Senate Taken from Table (Senate)
  2. 2025-04-02Senate Tabled (Senate)
  3. 2025-03-21Senate Read Second Time (Senate)
  4. 2025-03-20Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
  5. 2025-03-06Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
  6. 2025-03-04House Passed/Adopted (House)
  7. 2025-03-04House Third Readers (House)
  8. 2025-02-26House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
  9. 2025-02-19House Second Readers (House)
  10. 2025-02-18House First Readers (House)
  11. 2025-02-13House Hopper (House)

Sponsors

  • Alan Powell (R, HD-33)Primary sponsor
  • Lauren McDonald III (R, HD-26)
  • Matt Dubnik (R, HD-29)
  • Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-4)
  • Mark Newton (R, HD-127)
  • Rick Jasperse (R, HD-11)
  • Matt Brass (R, SD-6)

Votes

  1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

    149 yea, 15 nay (9 not voting, 7 excused)

    PASSAGE: House Vote #186

  2. PassedSenate voteFebruary 20, 2026

    38 yea, 8 nay (4 not voting, 4 excused)

    PASSAGE: Senate Vote #560

Topics

  • bingo licensing
  • charitable gaming
  • nonprofit fundraising
  • gambling law

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Answers come from this document. Not legal advice.

Machine-readable https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb455.md · https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md · MCP https://mcp.georgiacommons.org/mcp