Bingo issues B-4 Missouri voters

Bingo backers don't expect to hit the jackpot with a measure on Missouri's statewide ballot.

But members of two organizations hosting bingo games at Bingo World in Cape Girardeau said the measure could make it easier to advertise and staff game nights.

Regardless of whether voters pass the measure on the Nov. 6 ballot, they said bingo games will remain an important source of revenue for their groups.

Constitutional Amendment 4 would change state law that limits bingo advertising and allow members of licensed groups to manage bingo games after just six months of membership. Right now, members of such organizations must wait two years before they can manage bingo games.

Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment legalizing bingo in 1980. The measure allows religious, charitable, fraternal or veterans groups to conduct licensed bingo games.

But it also barred such organizations from advertising bingo games except on the properties where bingo games are held.

A federal court has declared that part of the amendment unenforceable. Amendment 4 would remove the restriction on advertising.

"Opening up the advertising would be huge," said Jonathan Bremer of the Cape Girardeau Evening Optimist Club, which, along with other local Optimist clubs, conducts bingo games on Friday nights.

Jackpots can reach $10,000 or more, he said.

Advertising could prompt more people to play the bingo games and generate more revenue, Bremer said.

Alex Jackson, who as development director for Notre Dame Regional High School oversees fundraising for the Catholic school, said passage of the measure would benefit organizations that conduct bingo by allowing "more flexibility" for staffing games.

Jackson said the Notre Dame Booster Club relies on volunteer parents to run bingo games on Wednesday and Saturday nights.

Jackson called the bingo games "one of the largest fundraisers" for the school.

The games generate more than $100,000 a year, Jackson said. The money goes largely to help keep down the cost of student tuition, he aid.

As for the Optimist bingo, it, too, brings in tens of thousands of dollars annually.

"There is a ton of money," Bremer said, adding the Optimist clubs use the money to fund various youth programs in the Cape Girardeau and Jackson areas.

Bremer said the biggest challenge for groups such as the Optimists is finding enough volunteers to operate the bingo games.

"We just have to have people who want to volunteer first, said Bremer, who has helped out with games at Bingo World for years.

While he backs the ballot issue, Bremer said passage of the measure could encourage other civic groups to start holding bingo games, which would mean more competition for the Optimists and others who already have bingo operations.

No organized opposition to the measure has surfaced. Amendment 4 needs a simple majority to pass.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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