SB 151

Under current statutory law, a person is engaged in gambling if he or she places

a bet or participates in or conducts a lottery. The Wisconsin Constitution and current

statutory law prohibit gambling except for the state lottery, charitable bingo,

charitable raffles, and pari-mutuel wagering.

Current law exempts from the definition of "bet" an agreement under which an

employee is given an opportunity to win a prize, the award of which is determined

by chance, in return for referring a potential customer to his or her employer for

goods or services offered by the employer. Current law defines "lottery" as an

enterprise in which, in exchange for consideration, the participants are given an

opportunity to win a prize, the award of which is determined by chance even though

it may be accompanied by some skill. Consideration in general is something of value.

For purposes of the definition of "lottery," consideration does not include the

situation where an employee refers to his or her employer a potential customer but

only if the employee is not receiving compensation for the referral. Under the bill,

such a referral is outside the definition of consideration regardless of whether the

employee receives any compensation.