HBA-JEK H.B. 3336 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3336
By: Telford
Licensing & Administrative Procedures
3/30/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

According to the most recent Texas gambling survey by the Texas Commission
on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, an estimated 3 percent of adult Texans suffer
from problem or pathological gambling.  The state does not have an agency
that studies the effect of problem or pathological gambling on gamblers,
their families, and the state at large.  House Bill 3336 creates the
Interagency Council on Compulsive Gambling and the Blue Ribbon Panel on
Problem Gambling. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 3336 amends the Health and Safety Code to create the Interagency
Council on Compulsive Gambling (council) to foster cooperation between
state agencies to address problems created by compulsive gambling.  The
bill requires the council to include a high-level representative from each
state entity specified in the bill.  The bill sets forth the leadership and
meeting times of the council, and requires the council to report annually
to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house. 

H.B. 3336 also creates the Blue Ribbon Panel on Problem Gambling (panel) to
study compulsive gambling and to develop a plan to provide education,
preventive measures, and treatment of compulsive gambling. The bill sets
forth the composition of the 13-member panel to include state officials and
gubernatorial appointees who have an interest in compulsive gambling, and
requires initial appointments to the panel to be made before January 1,
2002.  The bill describes the duties of the panel, and requires the panel
to report to the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house no
later than January 15, 2003.  The panel is abolished on January 16, 2003. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.