In spite of promises, Gambling Addiction funding is cut in Maryland!
This is what Massachusetts will do.
Funds for problem gambling have been borrowed for education
Despite transfers, state is preparing new program to begin in July
by Daniel Leaderman, Staff Writer
Maryland law makes sure that slot machines give a little back each year to combat gambling addiction by charging operators a fee for each machine, but some of those funds have been diverted to other programs.
The $475 annual fee goes to the state’s Problem Gaming Fund, designed to provide resources for problem gamblers such as a telephone hot line and counseling services.
But state officials have transferred more than $1 million from that fund to the Education Trust Fund in order to limit cuts to education aid, prompting concern from advocates that the state is dropping the ball.
“The state has not done an adequate job to protect citizens from gambling addiction,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based National Council on Problem Gambling.
Rather than waiting for casino operators to pay into the fund as more facilities go online, the state should have created a strong safety net at the outset and not used the money for other programs, Whyte said.
One of the budget bills passed in last month’s special session of the General Assembly transferred $950,000 from the Problem Gaming Fund in fiscal 2012 and another $209,000 in fiscal 2013.
There are 2,250 slots machines up and running at the state’s two existing casinos in Perryville and Ocean Downs, and Maryland Live! in Hanover will add about 3,200 more when it opens next week.
But not all of the gambling funds were funneled to other programs, said Kathleen Rebbert-Franklin, acting director of the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. The state has partnered with the University of Maryland to establish a Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling to provide training for counselors and health professionals, implement a 24-hour hot line for gamblers to call if they need help and make recommendations for future services.
Just less than $3 million from the fund, including the fees from the Hanover casino, is projected to be spent on the center in 2013, according to the state Department of Legislative Services.
The more slot machines there are, the more money will be paid into the fund, Rebbert-Franklin said.
Similar centers are in place at Yale University and the University of Minnesota, both of which receive funds from the gaming industry, and at the University of Denver, which is funded by the state.
The Maryland center is expected to begin operating July 1.
One of the first steps taken by the state after the legalization of slot machines in 2008 was to commission a base-line study of problem gambling in Maryland, said Rebbert-Franklin.
That study, conducted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and published in 2011, found that 9 percent of state residents were at-risk to develop gambling problems, and 3.4 percent already had such problems.
While the study was being conducted, the state partnered with a national problem gambling hot line, publicizing the phone number on lottery tickets and in casinos, Rebbert-Franklin said.
http://www.gazette.net/article/20120601/NEWS/706019667/1034/funds-for-problem-gambling-have-been-borrowed-for-education&template=gazette
The $475 annual fee goes to the state’s Problem Gaming Fund, designed to provide resources for problem gamblers such as a telephone hot line and counseling services.
But state officials have transferred more than $1 million from that fund to the Education Trust Fund in order to limit cuts to education aid, prompting concern from advocates that the state is dropping the ball.
“The state has not done an adequate job to protect citizens from gambling addiction,” said Keith Whyte, executive director of the Washington D.C.-based National Council on Problem Gambling.
Rather than waiting for casino operators to pay into the fund as more facilities go online, the state should have created a strong safety net at the outset and not used the money for other programs, Whyte said.
One of the budget bills passed in last month’s special session of the General Assembly transferred $950,000 from the Problem Gaming Fund in fiscal 2012 and another $209,000 in fiscal 2013.
There are 2,250 slots machines up and running at the state’s two existing casinos in Perryville and Ocean Downs, and Maryland Live! in Hanover will add about 3,200 more when it opens next week.
But not all of the gambling funds were funneled to other programs, said Kathleen Rebbert-Franklin, acting director of the state Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration. The state has partnered with the University of Maryland to establish a Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling to provide training for counselors and health professionals, implement a 24-hour hot line for gamblers to call if they need help and make recommendations for future services.
Just less than $3 million from the fund, including the fees from the Hanover casino, is projected to be spent on the center in 2013, according to the state Department of Legislative Services.
The more slot machines there are, the more money will be paid into the fund, Rebbert-Franklin said.
Similar centers are in place at Yale University and the University of Minnesota, both of which receive funds from the gaming industry, and at the University of Denver, which is funded by the state.
The Maryland center is expected to begin operating July 1.
One of the first steps taken by the state after the legalization of slot machines in 2008 was to commission a base-line study of problem gambling in Maryland, said Rebbert-Franklin.
That study, conducted by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and published in 2011, found that 9 percent of state residents were at-risk to develop gambling problems, and 3.4 percent already had such problems.
While the study was being conducted, the state partnered with a national problem gambling hot line, publicizing the phone number on lottery tickets and in casinos, Rebbert-Franklin said.
http://www.gazette.net/article/20120601/NEWS/706019667/1034/funds-for-problem-gambling-have-been-borrowed-for-education&template=gazette
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