A bipartisan bill seeks to allocate excise tax revenue to fund a national study on sports betting harms and their public policy implications.
In 2018, the US Supreme Court overturned the federal ban on sports betting. Eight years later, more Americans are gambling legally than ever before. Despite this surge, there’s no federal agency charged with studying the impacts of sports betting’s expansion at the national level. Newly introduced bipartisan legislation aims to correct the oversight.
Representatives Blake Moore (R-UT) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) introduced on June 4 the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act, the latest Congressional effort to impose federal regulation on the industry.
The bipartisan bill would direct the federal government to undertake a comprehensive, multi-year investigation into the causes, development, and long-term effects of gambling disorder. It would also evaluate the effectiveness of prevention, treatment, and intervention strategies. To fund the effort, the bill would appropriate 10% of federal excise tax revenue from state-authorized wagers for up to three fiscal years. Similar bills to allocate portions of the excise tax to gambling-related initiatives have been introduced in Congress.
In the announcement, Rep. Moore called the recent proliferation of sports betting a crisis:
“We are in a new age of gambling addiction as sports betting and prediction markets have proliferated into every aspect of life. 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.”
Legal Sports Betting is Creating a National Public Health Crisis
Rep. Goldman echoed the thoughts of his colleague across the ailes.
“Gambling addiction is a growing public health crisis, especially for young men, and the federal government needs to start treating it as such.
This bipartisan legislation is a commonsense first step to help us understand the full implications of the apps and sites that have made gambling readily accessible 24/7; to identify those most at risk of addiction; and to develop strategies to intervene and treat them, just as we do with other forms of addiction. Congress must take a more active role in fighting gambling addiction and pass this bill.”
Gambling addiction in the US, the release argues, is now a “significant public health concern” exacerbated by “the rapid expansion of legalized sports betting” post-PASPA.
By 2025, legal US sports betting has grown from one state in 2017 to 39 operational states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Since 2018, Americans have placed $668 billion in legal sports wagers, according to data cited by MarketWatch.
The announcement also cites recent research out of Siena Research Institute and St. Bonaventure’s Jandoli School of Communication. The Annual Sports Fanship Survey found that 27% of Americans report having an active account with an online sportsbook. Over half of men between 18 and 49 said the same. The same study found that 33% of men aged 18-49 reported using a prediction market to place a sports wager.
Act Would Fund Federal Investigation of Gambling Harms
Moore and Goldman note that research indicates internet searches for gambling addiction help-seeking have increased 23% since 2018. Further, about 2-3% of the US population meets one or more of the criteria for gambling disorder.
Despite these trends, gambling addiction has not received the same level of federal attention as other addictions, they argue.
From the press release:
Gambling disorders are classified as behavioral addictions in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). However, no federal agency is currently designated or funded to lead national research in this area, even though the federal government collects revenue from gambling activity through an excise tax. This lack of federal attention is particularly concerning given the widespread exposure and access to gambling.”
As a remedy, the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act would:
- Mount a federal study into the causes, development, associated demographics, and long-term effects of gambling disorder and gambling-related harm. It would also evaluate prevention, treatment, and intervention strategies. This would include an analysis of the contributing factors to and policy implications of gambling disorder.
- Require the HHS Secretary to report annually to Congress on the study’s progress and policy recommendations.
- Appropriate 10% of the federal excise tax revenue on state-authorized wagers for up to three years to fund the study.
Federal Effort Has Institutional Backing
At its introduction, The Kennedy Forum, Foundation on Drug Policy Solutions (FDPS), and the New York Council on Problem Gambling (NYCPG) endorsed the legislation. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), Stop Predatory Gambling, Texans Against Gambling, and the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) are also backing the effort.
Lauren Finke, The Kennedy Forum’s senior director of policy, said the Forum is “increasingly concerned” about legalized sports betting’s impacts.
“As online gambling surges, permeating the lives of Americans, we are increasingly concerned about how this experiment will unfold for those who will inevitably develop dependencies that can hurt families, weaken relationships, harm finances, and destroy mental health. The Kennedy Forum supports this bill so we can better understand the scope and scale of the issue and help curb the emerging wave of addictions for profit that rely on shame, isolation, and silence to proliferate in our culture.”
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