Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

machines together for licensing and tax,
under one general heading. There are some
laws of this kind that have been in effect
for many years, and have worked well, such
as in Arkansas. But, generally th e trade
would prefer to have the main types of
machines covered in separate legislation.
2. Proposals to hike present license rates
excessively. The one fear is that, once a tax
is on the books, it will be raised by a suc-
ceeding legislature. Such proposals to hike
existing taxes showed up this year. A good
example again would be in Arkansas, with
a proposal to boost the fee from $5 to $25.
3. Possession laws on amusement and
gaming devices are considered as very un -
favorable, and one of the main reasons is
that the definition of gambling can always
be stretched so wide. Possession laws scare
locations also, and a few states had the
typical proposal this year to cancel business
licenses of places having gambling devices.
4. Proposals to tax vending machines at
so much per machine are considered im-
favorable. If a tax is proposed, it is much
I
'Z)~
1~
FROM STOCK!
t
UNZEL
,. ushback Wire
18 or 20 Strand
68
Color Combinations
Pushback wire, for many years one of
our leading items, · has kept pace with
the phenomenal growth of the coin
machine industry.
r.ie wide variety of color combination,
available lends itself to devious methodb
of wiring harness-to meet any requira •
.nents of the industry.
'"'°in machine service organizations and
distributors are invited to write for com-
plete information as to how they may
better serve their trade by furnishing
them with RUNZEL quality wire.
Manufacturers of coin machines may
avail themselves of our engineering
facilities for designing correct and most
efficient wiring harness,
Send us your specifications for
Inter-Comm Cable.
RUNZEL
Cord and Wire Co.
17 :n
8
\\. :110:\THOSE A YE.
CII IC .-\(;O l I . I LL.
Hurd In East
Walter Hurd, nationally recog-
nized authority on coin-operated
vending, amusement and s.e rvice
devices, and executive editor on
the COIN MACHINE REVIEW, is
now on editorial assignments in
the East and Middle West for this
publication. Hurd left the Los
Angeles offices in late April and
will spend six months on various
assignments in the trade.
more acceptable to place a business li cense
fee on the operator. A number of vending
machine tax proposals of the per machine
kind appeared this year.
5. Spite bills are unfavorable in any
trade, of course, and th e coin machine
trade always gets a few. It may be some
retail group that gets a legislator to author
a bill that shows spi te for vending ma-
chines, etc. Some legislators still show
animosity to amusement games. But none
of the bills seemed to get very far this
year; mayb e th ey will cease .to be any real
threat. California probably had the highest
number of such bills.
6. Bills that propose to put very new
types of coin-operated machines under a
license or tax. Several such bills appeared
this year, relating to coin radios, shuffie-
board, etc. It goes without sayi ng that, in
time, any device that makes much headway
will be included for taxa tion-and should
pay its just share. But early taxation of
new devices may delay expansion of such
machines to become an established business.
The few laws that have been passed this
year relating to coin machines may be
considered minor, with the exception of th e
new statute in Arkansas which defines and
legalizes free plays. The free-play statute is
of major importance and has been de-
scribed in detail in an earlier issue. The
parade of new laws is not complete, how-
ever, until all the legislatures have ad-
journed and then the story can be told.
Hence, this review will be confined to a
look at trends in proposals as various bills
were introduced this year.
The purpose of this review is not to show
the number of bills that became law this
year, but to show the wide variety of bills
that appeared in th e many states. The bills
that actually became law in 1949 will be
reviewed later. The state-by-state listin g be-
low is not complete but it will show the
special types of tax proposals and regula-
tions that are in the mind of legislators:
Arizona-The state had a bill to license
salesboards at 3 per cent. Also, the second
state on the alph abetical roster had one
of those empowering act proposals which
would give cities and towns the right to
tax games and other amusements. These
empowering acts were an increasing trend
this year and may mean much troubl e later
with local tax proposals. Arizona also had
a bill to li cense "slot machines."
Arkansas-The Legislature made history
by passing th e first law to legalize free
plays, and also set precedent by lowering
its state cigarette tax. The state also had
bills to greatly in crease present license fees
on machines, and one that singled out
vendors for taxin g. A bill to li cense coin
radios at $7.50 also appeared.
Alabama- Legislature scheduled to be-
gin May 3, bu t no report on actions at this
time.
California-The state had so many un-
favorable legislative proposals that a sepa-
rate article would be required to describe
them. Vicious possession bills and bills
which define gambling on the "may-be-used-
for" basis appeared, and with pressure be-
hind them. Some of the sever.al cigarette
vendor tax proposals were also very threat-
ening. One bill would have taxed phonos
whether on location or not; tax rates of
$60 and $80, and even $150 per year, were
inserted in some of the bills. There were a
few bills considered favorable but in gen-
eral there was a heavy tone of unfavorable
proposals.
Colorado- Interest centered in the bill
to license gaming devices in the state.
Cigarette bills proposed a state tax, also
unfair sales control. An empowering act to
let towns and counties license gaming de-
vices also appeared.
Connecticut-A $100 tax on each game,
phono, candy and cigarette vending ma-
chine was proposed. Cigarette bills in-
cluded one defining an operator as one who
operated 25 machines or more, and a bill
to amend state tax on cigarette vendors.
D e laware-An empowering act for one
township in the state.
Florida-The Legislature had a pile of
bills early in April, in a state that licenses
machines-and once licensed gaming de-
vices. Present law fixes limits of any local
taxes on machines, but a bill appeared to
remove any limitations. Other bills included
one to tax radios, a license revocation pro-
posal for gaming devices, a bill to exempt
vendors dispensing citrus juices (follows up
the peanut exemption trend in Virginia and
the Carolinas).
Georgia-The bill to empower certain
counties to license and tax coin machines
got special attention.
Idaho-Considered as having a favorable
license plan for gaming devices in clubs,
the state had bills to undo this law, as
would be expected. Bills included proposals
of complete ban on gaming devices, local
option for citi es, proposals to require that
( See LEGISLATION, page 10)
STILL THE
FIRST CHOICE
OF EXPERIENCED OPERATORS!
ffloJ~rn
ELECTRIC SCOREBOARD
Manufactured by
MODERN AMUSEMENT CO.
2093 SANTA FE AVE., LONG BEACH, CAL.
PHONE: LONG BEACH 70-4072
COIN MACHINE REVIEW
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com