An Act To Allow a Maine-chartered Financial Institution To Conduct a Savings Promotion Raffle
Maine Legislature, Session 124, LD 1673
Committee Amendment CA_A_S417 (Senate)
Amends: 17 MRSA §1831

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A " to S.P. 645, L.D. 1673, Bill, "An Act To 
Allow a Maine-chartered Financial Institution To Conduct a Savings Promotion Raffle" 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 17 MRSA §1831, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 2009, c.487, Pt. A, §2, is 
amended to read: 
5. Game of chance. "Game of chance" means a game, contest, scheme or device in 
which: 
A. A person stakes or risks something of value for the opportunity to win something 
of value; 
B. The rules of operation or play require an event the result of which is determined 
by chance, outside the control of the contestant or participant; and 
C. Chance enters as an element that influences the outcome in a manner that cannot 
be eliminated through the application of skill. 
For the purposes of this subsection, "an event the result of which is determined by 
chance" includes but is not limited to a shuffle of a deck of cards, a roll of a die or dice or 
a random drawing or generation of an object that may include, but is not limited to, a 
card, a die, a number or simulations of any of these. A shuffle of a deck of cards, a roll of 
a die, a random drawing or generation of an object or some other event the result of 
which is determined by chance that is employed to determine impal1ially the initial order 
of play in a game, contest, scheme or device does not alone make a game, contest, 
scheme or device a game of chance. For purposes of this chapter, beano aHd,. bingo and a 
savings promotion raffle are 110t games of chance~ 
Sec. 2. 17 MRSA §1831, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 487, Pt. A, §2, is 
amended to read: 
13. Raffle. "Raffle" means a game .of chance in which: 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to S.P. 645, L.D. 1673 
A. A person pays or agrees to pay something of value for a chance, represented and 
differentiated by a number, to win a prize; 
B. One or more of the chances is to be designated the winning chance; and 
C. The winning chance is to be determined as a result of a drawing from a container 
holding numbers representative of all chances sold. 
"Raffle" does not include a savings promotion raffle. 
Sec.3. 17 MRSA §1831, sub-§14-A is enacted to read: 
14-A. Savings promotion raffle. "Savings promotion raffle" means a promotion 
offered by a financial institution as defined in Title 9-B, section 131, subsection 17 or 
credit union as defined in Title 9,.B, section 131, subsection 12 in which the sole 
consideration required for a chance of winning the designated prize in the raffle is the 
deposit of at least a specified amount of money into a savings account or other savings 
program and in which: 
A. The savings account or other savings program provides interest at a comparable 
rate to other savings accounts or savings programs offered by that financial institution 
or credit union, with the interest accruing for the benefit of the account holder, and 
allows the account holder access to deposited money; 
B. The total of the designated prizes for each raffle does not exceed $1,000 or the 
fair market value of $1,000 in cases when an item or items of merchandise are the 
designated prizes; 
C. The promotion is offered no more than 2 times per year; and 
D. The terms and conditions of the promotion are disclosed to account holders and 
prospective account holders of the financial institution or credit union. 
Notwithstanding section 343, the Department of Professional and Firiancial Regulation, 
Bureau of Financial Institutions shall adopt rules no later than February 1, 2011 to fUIther 
define a savings promotion raffle in accordance with this subsection. Rules adopted 
pursuant to this subsection are major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
Sec. 4. Report. As PaJt of the repOlt required by the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 
9-B, section 217 to be submitted to the Legislature on or before January 15,2012, the 
Superintendent of Financial Institutions shall include information related to the savings 
promotion raffle activities of financial institutions and credit unions. The Superintendent 
of Financial Institutions shall include a recommendation to the joint standing committee 
of the Legislature having jurisdiction over insurance and financial services matters on 
whether the existing law should be amended to authorize a federally chartered financial 
institution or credit union to conduct a savings promotion raffle.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment is the majority report of the committee and replaces the bill. The 
amendment amends the definition of "game of chance" and "raffle" to exclude a savings 
promotion raffle conducted by a state-chartered financial institution or credit union. The 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITIEE AMENDMENT" If, to S.P. 645, L.D. 1673 
amendment defines "savings promotion raffle" as a promotion in which the sole 
consideration for winning is the deposit of a certain amount of money in a savings 
account or other savings program. The amendment requires that the savings account or 
other savings program provide interest at comparable rates to the account holder and 
aIiow an account holder access to the savings. 
The amendment limits a financial 
institution or credit union to 2 savings promotion raffles per. year and caps the total 
amount of designated prizes per promotion at $1,000. 
The amendment also requires the Department of Professional and Financial 
Regulation, Bureau of Financial Institutions to adopt rules to further define "savings 
promotion raffle" no later than February 1, 2011 and makes those rules subject to 
legislative review before final adoption. In addition, the Superintendent of Financial 
Institutions shall include information on the activities of financial inst.itutions and credit 
unions related to savings promotion raffles and recommend whether federally chattered 
financial institutions and credit unions should be authorized to conduct a savings 
promotion raffle in the annual repOlt to the Legislature submitted on or before January 
15,2012. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 03/02/10 ;:k?czc 
LD 1673 
LR 2489(02) 
An Act To AIJow a Maine-chartered Financial Institution To Conduct a Savings Promotion Raffle 
Fiscal Note for Bm as Amended by Committee Amendment "A" 
Committee: Insurance and Financial Services 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Minor cost increase - Other Special Revenue Funds 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Additional costs to the Bureau of Financial Institutions in the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation are 
expected to be minor and can be absorbed utilizing existing budgeted resources. 
LR2489(02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of 1 
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