hb346_LC_19_6535S_hs

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05 LC 19 6535S

The House Committee on Regulated Industries offers the following substitute to
HB 346:

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Article 1 of Chapter 27 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to the Georgia Lottery for Education, so as to provide for methods of payment of lottery tickets; to authorize the establishment of an individual lottery account; to provide for the deposit of funds into individual lottery accounts by registered members of the public; to provide for methods of deposit; to provide that no funds deposited shall be refunded; to provide for abandoned accounts; to authorize and direct the board of trustees to devise a method pursuant to which a person who is eligible to purchase a Georgia lottery ticket may purchase a share in a lottery game by means of a public or private computer terminal or other electronic means; to provide for certain contracts; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Article 1 of Chapter 27 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general provisions relative to the Georgia Lottery for Education, is amended by striking in its entirety paragraph (2) of Code Section 50-27-10, relating to adoption by the board of procedures regulating the conduct of lottery games, and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

"(2) The sale price of tickets or shares and the manner of sale; provided, however, that all sales shall be for cash only and payment by checks, credit cards, charge cards, or any form of deferred payment is prohibited by cash, certified funds, debit card, or other electronic transaction; however, no payments by debit card will be accepted at an authorized participating Georgia lottery retailer;".

SECTION 2.

Said article is further amended by inserting immediately following Code Section 50-27-23 a new Code section to read as follows:

"50-27-23.1.

(a) The corporation is authorized to establish an individual lottery account designed so that any person who is eligible to purchase Georgia lottery tickets or shares can establish an individual lottery account that is accessible through the Internet or by other electronic means and provides the individual with the ability to monitor and make deposits into the account. Funds deposited into an individual lottery account shall not be refunded, and the only withdrawals allowed shall be a debiting of the account for the on-line purchase of lottery tickets or shares. Deposits to the individual lottery accounts may be made by any means allowed by Code Section 50-27-10 for the purchase of lottery tickets or shares. Any such individual account showing no activity for a period of one year shall be deemed abandoned, and the funds therein shall become the funds of the corporation and treated in the same manner as unclaimed prizes.

(b) In order to establish an individual lottery account, a person shall apply at any authorized participating Georgia lottery retailer within the State of Georgia. The person must present to the retailer a valid driveŕs license with current address and a social security card. The retailer shall verify that the person is 18 years of age or older and upon payment of an application processing fee of $3.00, that shall be retained by the lottery retailer, such person will be issued an application form, to be furnished by the board, containing a unique individual lottery account number; the applicant́s name, address, age, driveŕs license number, or the number of an identification card issued pursuant to Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 40; and the applicant́s social security number. The individual lottery account will not be activated until the person goes on line and follows the activation and funding procedure to be established by the board. As part of the activation process, the person will be required to designate a personal identification number which will prevent others from accessing his or her individual lottery account.

(c) The board is authorized and directed to devise a method pursuant to which a person who has activated and funded an individual lottery account is allowed to purchase lottery tickets or shares by using public or private computer terminals or other electronic devices or means. The board is authorized to determine which games may be played on line and may, in its discretion, limit the persons authorized to purchase tickets or shares on line to Georgia residents.

(d) The board is authorized to contract with one or more private entities to accomplish any of the directives of this Code section under such terms as the board deems advantageous. Any private entity shall be entitled to be compensated under the same terms and conditions as an existing authorized participating Georgia lottery retailer. In addition, any such private entity shall compensate authorized participating Georgia lottery retailers in an amount of not less than 1 percent of the total amount spent on line by an individual who initially registered and received an individual lottery account number from that retaileŕs place of business."

SECTION 3.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.