A wide swath of charities in California say legislation signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that bans electronic bingo machines will cripple their fundraising operations and force major cuts."I just don't see any way we can compete without the machines," said Marty Manges, who runs the bingo operations for Sacramento's Casa Roble High School's sports and extracurricular programs. "The legislature and the governor's office pretty much killed charity bingo in the state of California."The heavily-lobbied legislation, signed late Tuesday, bans electronic bingo machines but allows large Catholic charities to run "remote caller" bingo games.Several local charities said the ability to have multiple sites play a single contest might help the Catholic charities that sought it, but not them."It's the end of the line for us. The paper (bingo) doesn't pencil out," said Doug Bergman, president and chief executive officer of United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento.Over the years, charities supporting numerous high school sports, local bands, homeless teen centers, senior programs, and a program that helps the disabled all have paid for their endeavors through bingo halls.But in recent years, as the bingo population has aged and others turned to Indian casinos, local bingo halls and the charities they fund had turned to electronic bingo.Senate Bill 1369, a "gut-and-amend" bill that came in the final days of the legislative session, was the product of a compromise between Indian gambling tribes and large charities like the Catholic Church. The church wanted the change because its games were losing customers to Indian casinos in recent years.The tribes had long sought to end electronic bingo in Sacramento County. They argued that it encroached on their exclusive right to operate slot machines in California. Indian gaming interests sent dozens of lobbyists to the Capitol on the bill.It was opposed by smaller charities.The tribes had lobbied throughout the year for legislation that would ban electronic bingo, and some lawmakers said the state could not afford to lose Indian gambling proceeds to bingo parlors.The ban is set to take effect Jan. 1.Bergman said losing electronic bingo will cause his charity to make major cuts to its program."You can't just find a replacement for $230,000 overnight," Bergman said. He said the charity would lose $42,000 every six months operating their bingo hall two days a week.For nearly 20 years, bingo has helped support Casa Roble High School's sports and extracurricular programs - kicking in $2.5 million over that span."That is going to be very hard to replace," said Manges, who runs Casa Roble's bingo operations. "That's a lot of candy sales and car washes."Austin Lenth, 17, was among the scores of adults and young adults to benefit from Disabled Sport USA's bingo operation.As his body started failing him, the charity taught Lenth to use a hand-powered bike and gave him the assistance needed to keep his golf game up. But more than anything, it helped keep his spirit alive, said his mother, Sharron Lenth."The organization has given him a new direction in life," she said.E-mail Ed Fletcher at efletcher(at)sacbee.com. The Bee's Kevin Yamamura contributed to this report.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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