Excellent News from Capitol Hill

News from Capitol Hill!! Senate Bill 3418, the Comprehensive Problem Gambling Act of 2010, was introduced on May 25, 2010 in the Senate by Senators Merkley (D-OR) and Johanns (R-NE), co-sponsored by Senators Brown (D-OH) and Casey (D-PA). This historic milestone is the first-ever Senate bill to fight gambling addiction. Senate Bill 3418 is the companion bill to HR 2906, which has over 50 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. This latest news marks significant progress of this legislation that designates SAMHSA as the lead federal agency to address this public health issue, and will allocate $71M to problem gambling programs over the next five years.

The following is a link to the National Council on Problem Gambling's advocacy page where stakeholders and supporters can find the information they need to help raise awareness: http://www.ncpgambling.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=4177

Keith Whyte, Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, has been instrumental in organizing and "carrying the water" for the effort to get this far – he has asked that interested individuals and organizations contact their Federal legislators to push for hearings and eventual passage of the legislation which will benefit problem gamblers and their families throughout the United States.

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