When the Legislature banned smoking in most public buildings two years ago, bingo operators saw their customer numbers plummet. A Williston bingo hall closed, and players in the Red River Valley fled to Minnesota, where bingo establishments allow smoking.

On Tuesday, the North Dakota House tried to repair some of the damage with a tax cut that is expected to save bingo parlors almost $2.1 million over two years.

Representatives approved the measure on a voice vote. The Senate has already endorsed it, and the tax-cut bill now moves to Gov. John Hoeven's desk.

Under current law, bingo cards are subjected to North Dakota's 5 percent sales tax. The legislation approved Tuesday reworks the tax as an excise tax at a rate of 3 percent.

Senators defeated the bill last week after some complained the legislation did not extend a comparable tax break to pull-tab tickets. But the measure was later reconsidered and approved, 47-0.

Bingo is run by charities, and the three organizations with the largest gambling operations - the North Dakota Association for the Disabled in Grand Forks, Fargo's Plains Art Museum and Prairie Public Broadcasting Inc. of Fargo - all run bingo halls.

In the three-month period ending last Sept. 30, bingo players spent almost $8.6 million on bingo cards and operators paid almost $6.7 million in prizes. From the $1.9 million in profit, bingo operators paid $485,407 in sales taxes on bingo cards.

The September quarter's bingo-card wagering fell by $892,100, or 9.4 percent, from the gross revenues on bingo cards during the same three-month period a year ago, according to statistics from the North Dakota attorney general's office.

The bill is SB2225.