LD 863

LAW WITHOUT
  GOVERNOR'S  CHAPTER
  SIGNATURE
  222
  JUNE 10, 2025  PUBLIC LAW
  STATE OF MAINE
  _____
  IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
  TWO THOUSAND TWENTY-FIVE
  _____
  H.P. 549 - L.D. 863
  An Act to Allow a Person or Organization Conducting a Raffle to Use an
  Approved Payment Management System
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
    Sec. 1. 17 MRSA §1837-C, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 636, §3, is amended to read:
§1837-C. Raffle entry by payment management system
    1. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context indicates otherwise, the
following terms have the following meanings.
    A. "Geolocation technology" means a computer program or data collection system that
    can be used to identify the geographic location of a person an individual interacting
    with that computer program or data collection system through the Internet.
    B. "Payment management system" means a mobile application or other digital
    platform and the accompanying computer software used to accept payment for a raffle
    chance or ticket through the Internet.
   2. Use of payment management system. When conducting a raffle under section
1837‑A that is not an Internet raffle, an eligible a person or organization may accept
payment for a raffle chance or ticket from a payment management system if:
    A. The payment management system is approved by the director under subsection 3;
    B. The raffle chance or ticket is purchased by a person an individual who is at least 18
    years of age; and
    C. The raffle chance or ticket is purchased by a person an individual who is physically
    located in the State or another state where the purchase of that raffle chance or ticket
    would be legal under the laws of that state.
If the eligible person or organization determines that the purchase of a raffle chance or
ticket is made in violation of paragraph B or C, the person or organization shall immediately
refund the payment and void the raffle chance or ticket associated with the purchase.
If the eligible person or organization conducts a raffle in which a winner receives a firearm,
the transfer of that firearm to the winner must be processed through a holder of a federal
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license for a dealer in firearms who is not a dealer in destructive devices under 18 United
States Code, Section 923(a)(3)(B).
An eligible A person or organization that fails to comply with this subsection commits a
civil violation punishable by a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000.
    3. Approval of payment management system. Upon request from an eligible a
person or organization, the director may approve a payment management system for use
by the person or organization in conducting a raffle that is not an Internet raffle only if the
director determines that the payment management system:
    A. Does not permit the extension of credit from the eligible person or organization to
    a person an individual who purchases a raffle chance or ticket;
    B. Does not permit a person an individual to initiate a transaction to purchase a raffle
    chance or ticket and finalize the transaction by providing payment by mail;
    C. Includes adequate measures to ensure that a person an individual who purchases a
    raffle chance or ticket is at least 18 years of age;
    D. Includes geolocation technology to determine with a reasonable degree of certainty
    the state in which a person an individual who purchases a raffle chance or ticket is
    physically located at the time the purchase is made and allows an eligible a person or
    organization to prevent a person an individual from purchasing a raffle chance or ticket
    while the person individual is physically located in a state where the purchase of that
    raffle chance or ticket would not be legal under the laws of that state;
    E. Provides for the immediate refund of any payment to purchase a raffle chance or
    ticket made by a person an individual who the person or organization discovers is under
    18 years of age at the time of purchase or was physically located in a state where the
    raffle being conducted is not legally permitted at the time of purchase;
    F. Includes adequate measures to protect the privacy and security of payment
    information submitted by persons individuals who purchase raffle chances or tickets
    during the purchase process; and
    G. Enables the eligible person or organization to satisfy the record-keeping and
    reporting requirements in subsection 6 as well as any other requirements established
    by the Gambling Control Unit by rule.
    4. Payment; eligible organization. A payment management system approved by the
director under this section may permit the use of a debit card or other payment method that
the an eligible organization as described in section 1832, subsection 2 uses to accept
membership dues from out-of-state members and may allow a member of the eligible
organization to request that payment for a raffle chance or ticket be made using the
member's funds already within the possession of the eligible organization.
     5. Guidance for raffle operators. Upon receipt of a request to approve a payment
management system under subsection 3, the director shall provide the eligible person or
organization with a guidance document including any information the director determines
necessary to assist the eligible person or organization in complying with the requirements
of this section.
    6. Record-keeping and reporting requirements. In addition to the record-keeping
requirements under section 1839, an eligible a person or organization that uses a payment
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management system to conduct a raffle under section 1837-A for which a registration is
required shall:
    A. Retain for a period of 3 years an electronic copy of each receipt for the sale of a
    raffle chance or ticket sold using the payment management system;
    B. Retain for a period of one year a physical copy of each raffle ticket stub generated
    by the sale of a chance or ticket for a raffle sold using the payment management system;
    C. Maintain raffle ticket stubs retained under paragraph A or B separately for each
    individual raffle;
    D. Provide receipts for raffle chances or tickets and raffle ticket stubs retained under
    this subsection to the Gambling Control Unit on request; and
    E. Submit an annual report to the Gambling Control Unit that includes the number of
    raffles conducted using a payment management system during the year covered by the
    report and the amount of gross receipts for each of those raffles.
An eligible A person or organization that fails to comply with this subsection commits a
civil violation punishable by a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $5,000.
    Sec. 2. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and
allocations are made.
PUBLIC SAFETY, DEPARTMENT OF
Gambling Control Board Z002
Initiative: Provides funding for one Office Specialist II position and associated costs.
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS  2025-26  2026-27
 POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT  1.000  1.000
 Personal Services  $97,159  $100,613
 All Other  $4,865  $4,865
  __________       __________
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL  $102,024  $105,478
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