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Lawmakers in one of the nation’s three largest sports betting markets have proposed a bill that would create a problem gambling task force.
Illinois Rep. Daniel Didech has submitted a bill (HB 5307) to amend the state’s gambling legislation to include guidelines for creating and maintaining a Problem Gambling Task Force that would “provide recommendations to the General Assembly on how the State should continue to meet its responsibility to assist those who suffer from a gambling problem or disorder,” the bill reads.
Problem Gambling Task Force would include a variety of stakeholders
Didech’s bill lays out the framework for how the task force would be assembled and who would be on it.
The bill calls for a 10-member task force made up of one member each from the two largest causes in the Illinois House, along with one member from the following fields and organizations:
- Health care industry
- Department of Public Health
- Illinois Gaming Board
- Department of the Lottery
- Illinois Racing Board
- A nonprofit organization with “experience in problem gambling treatment and recovery services”
- Business or organization with a gaming license
The bill also calls for one of the task force members to be someone who has been impacted by problem gambling or a gambling disorder.
Task force to provide recommendations to Illinois General Assembly
The bill sets a strict timeline for the task force. The group must meet at least four times, provide a list of recommendations to the governor by Dec. 31, 2025, and disband on Jan. 1, 2027
In that time, the task force must:
- Review problem gambling programs and services offered by public, private and nonprofit entities
- Review problem gambling programs and services offered by other states and the federal government
- Review the relationship between gambling addictions and advertisements for gambling
Once the task force completes its review, the bill requires the group to make a series of recommendations to the state’s General Assembly.
Those recommendations should tell the governor if the state needs to conduct more research about problem gambling, increase spending on gambling risk prevention, treatment and recovery services, and if the regulatory framework for licensing and certifying problem gambling organizations can support future growth.
The task force also needs to see if there are unaddressed problem gambling areas the state needs to tackle to reduce the number of people affected by problem gambling.
The recommendations are due to the governor by Dec. 31, 2025. Based on the Jan. 1, 2027, repeal built into the bill, the state will have one year to implement the task force’s recommendations.
