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.