In Corpus Christi, Texas, bingo halls were spared when the city gave preliminary approval to a smoking ban, KRIS-TV reports.
In a ban that includes bars, billiard parlors and bowling alleys, the council made a special amendment to safeguard bingo halls. According to the local news outlet, some feared that jobs and charity funding would be lost if the ban included bingo halls.
”There are 39 charities with incredibly noble causes, all of whom depend either entirely or in great part upon charitable bingo to fund their causes,” Jeff Minch, President of the Texas Association of Advancement of Charitable Bingo, told the news station.