Bill would create problem gambling commission

The General Affairs Committee heard testimony Feb. 4 on a bill that would make several changes to the utilization of gaming funds for services to the state’s problem gamblers.

LB6, introduced by Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, would establish the Nebraska Commission on Problem Gambling within the state Department of Revenue. The nine-member commission would be required to develop operational standards for a Gamblers Assistance Program – also created by the bill – and would oversee the Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Fund.

Members, appointed by the governor, would include members of the medical and mental health care fields, as well as representatives from the banking and finance industry, education and consumers of problem gambling services.

Members would serve three-year terms and would be reimbursed for expenses.

The commission would:

• appoint the director of the Gamblers Assistance Program;
• evaluate the scope of problem gambling in Nebraska;
• contract with treatment providers for services; and
• create public awareness and outreach programs.

Krist said problem gamblers and their families have expressed concerns about the services currently available from the State Committee on Problem Gambling, which is located within the Division of Behavioral Health at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

He said the bill is similar to recent legislation revamping state oversight of the foster care system. Krist said citizens were clear when they approved gaming in Nebraska that part of the revenue should be spent helping problem gamblers.

“LB6 properly restores the state’s ability to provide proper treatment for problem gamblers in Nebraska,” Krist said.

Jerry Bauerkemper, executive director of the Nebraska Council on Compulsive Gambling, testified in favor of the bill. DHHS is not responsive to input from the current committee, he said, and has spent money on ineffective outreach programs and inappropriate training for problem gambling counselors.

Dr. Dennis McNeilly, a psychiatry professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and former member of the State Committee on Problem Gambling, agreed.

“It became increasingly apparent to me that the expertise and knowledge of the problem gambling field were not being incorporated [into funding decisions],” he said.

No one testified in opposition to the bill and the committee took no immediate action on it.