Funding for problem gambling treatment fails

Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 11:10 a.m.

For the second consecutive session, the Nevada Legislature has ended without the passage of a bill that would earmark state money for the treatment of addicted gamblers.

The bill would have allocated $250,000 to the state Department of Human Resources to grant to organizations that treat problem gamblers. Nevada has been criticized by treatment advocates nationwide for being among few states that do not provide some form of government-funded help.

Supporters of the bill, which never emerged from the Senate Finance Committee where it was introduced in March, say it is among several victims of the state's budget crunch this year.

Reached before the end of the session, Carol O'Hare, executive director of the Nevada Council on Problem Gambling, said a funding bill will likely be introduced at the next legislative session.

"There is no place left to go but to move forward," O'Hare said. "We can't take 'no' for answer. We know these people struggle to have access to the resources that they need."

The bill's author, Sen. Raymond Rawson, R-Las Vegas, could not be reached for comment by press time.

A separate bill that requires state certification of people who counsel problem gamblers has been signed by Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Two certification specialists would join the state Board of Examiners for Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counselors, paid for by certification fees.

O'Hare said the two bills go hand in hand.

"We want (people) to be qualified to provide the treatment but we're not offering any support or solution for how to pay for the treatment. That's the dilemma."

The bill isn't slated to be considered during the special session on the Legislature, Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said.

The governor has said he doesn't believe state government should be responsible for funding treatment for problem gambling, Bortolin said. That responsibility should be borne by the industry, he said.