U.S. Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT) is cosponsoring bipartisan legislation aimed at launching the first federally funded, multi-year study of gambling addiction in the United States amid the rapid expansion of online sports betting.
“We are in a new age of gambling addiction as sports betting and prediction markets have proliferated into every aspect of life,” Rep. Moore said on June 4. “Lawmakers and all Americans need to take a deeper look into the causes and effects of gambling addiction so we can best craft real solutions. This bill will go a long way in helping us address this crisis.”
Rep. Moore on May 21 introduced the bipartisan Gambling Disorder Health Study Act, H.R. 8970, with bill sponsor U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), which would appropriate 10 percent of the federal excise tax revenue on state-authorized wagers to fund a federal study into the causes, development, and long-term effects of gambling disorder and to evaluate prevention, treatment, and intervention strategies for up to three fiscal years.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in 2018 to overturn the federal ban on sports betting and the subsequent growing prevalence of gambling, no federal agency has yet been designated or funded to lead national research in this area.
If enacted, H.R. 8970 would direct a federal study into the causes, development, associated demographics, and long-term effects of gambling disorder and gambling-related harm and evaluate prevention, treatment, and intervention strategies, according to the bill summary provided by Rep. Moore’s office.
The study would analyze the contributing factors to and policy implications of gambling disorder, including but not limited to sports betting legalization, media exposure, and other social dynamics, the summary says, and the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary would be required to provide annual reporting to Congress on the study’s progress and provide policy recommendations to Congress.
H.R. 8970 has garnered support from The Kennedy Forum, the Foundation on Drug Policy Solutions, the New York Council on Problem Gambling, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Stop Predatory Gambling, Texans Against Gambling, and the National Council on Problem Gambling.
“Gambling addiction is a growing public health crisis, especially for young men, and the federal government needs to start treating it as such,” said Rep. Goldman.