BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2197
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 5, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2197 (Coto) - As Introduced: February 18, 2010
Policy Committee: Governmental
Organization Vote: 21 - 1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Office of Problem Gambling (OPG) to
develop education and awareness programs that specifically
target geographically diverse multi-cultural populations. In
addition, the bill authorizes the office to develop a grant
program for education and awareness which would give preference
to diverse populations and youth.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Developing a new grant program to increase awareness and
education would likely cost in excess of $500,000 per year,
depending on the scope of the program and the size of the
individual grants. [Indian Gaming Special Distribution Funds]
2)Developing an education and awareness program for diverse
multi-cultural populations would likely cost in excess of
$125,000. [Indian Gaming Special Distribution Funds]
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, this bill is intended to
update and bring consistency to the state's problem and
pathological gambling laws. The author notes that current law
requires OPG's problem gambling treatment efforts to include
services that are relevant to the needs of diverse
multicultural populations, but the law does not require OPG to
provide any gambling education or prevention services for such
populations. Additionally, current law requires the
prevention program to target youth, but it does not require
its treatment program to provide problem gambling services to
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youth.
2)Office of Problem Gambling (OPG) Budget . The Department of
Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP) receives approximately $8.4
million for problem gambling prevention and treatment
activities derived from the Indian Gaming Special Distribution
Fund (SDF). Of the total $8.4 million for the fiscal year (FY)
2010-11 budget, $3.484 million funds the prevention,
education, and research activities as enacted by AB 673
(Horton; Chapter 210, Statutes of 2003); and $5 million funds
the treatment.
Of the $3.484 million that funds prevention, education and
research activities:
a) $430,000 funds the gambler hotline service, which is
contracted out.
b) $300,000 funds a youth prevention grant through the
Tulare Office of Education which in turn provides community
grants for programs such as Friday Night Live.
c) $750,000 funds technical assistance and training through
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance
Abuse (NAPAFASA) to educate the public and train a broad
range of service providers, government agency personnel,
and community leaders to help prevent and/or treat problem
gambling.
d) $1.2 million funds a media campaign.
e) The bulk of the remaining funds are spent on research.
Of the $5 million that funds treatment, support, and services:
a) $4 million goes to a services contract with the UCLA
gambling program, which provides clinical guidance and
assists in oversight of the program. This program
reimburses individual therapists, and some county programs
for problem gambling treatment services on a
fee-for-service basis. Once the program infrastructure is
built and established, the program may go to funding county
programs more than individual therapists.
b) The remaining $1 million funds support services with
approximately $250,000 going to ADP for positions, and
$750,000 going to program support such as outreach and data
management.
1)Special Distribution Fund . Along with covering "shortfalls" in
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the Revenue Sharing Trust Fund (RSTF), money paid by gaming
tribes into the SDF is required to be used for funding
programs designed to address problem gambling; support for any
local or state government agencies that are impacted by
gaming; compensation for any Department of Justice (DOJ)
regulatory costs; and for implementing any tribal labor
relations ordinances that are promulgated in accordance with
individual gaming compacts.
The 2010-11 proposed budget assumes that the SDF will receive
$45 million in revenue (down from the $217 million received in
07-08) from the tribes. That $45 million will be added to a
beginning balance of $117 million, carried over from prior
years. Of that $162 million, $50 million would be transferred
to the RSTF to cover the shortfall in the funding for
non-gaming tribes, $14 million is provided to the DOJ, $8.5
million to the Gambling Control Commission, $8 million to the
Department of Alcohol and Drug for the Office of Problem
Gambling, and the remainder would be held in a reserve for
economic uncertainties (approximately $50 million less than
the reserve from two years earlier). Depending on whether or
not the state resumes its local mitigation grant funding, the
General Fund could be required to begin backfilling the SDF as
early as 2012-13.
2)Gambling in California . In California, the State Constitution
has provisions covering most types of gambling. Specifically
it (a) authorizes the California State Lottery but prohibits
any other lottery; (b) allows wagering on horse races; (c)
allows bingo for charitable purposes; and (d) prohibits
Nevada- and New Jersey-style casinos. The Constitution does
not specifically mention card rooms. Existing statute,
however, permits the play of any card game not otherwise
prohibited. Basically, the law allows card games where the
card room operator has no stake in the outcome of the game.
Gambling on Indian lands is regulated at the federal level
through the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988. The
IGRA separates gambling activities into three distinct classes
and applies different restrictions on each class. Essentially,
IGRA authorizes Indian tribes to operate any gambling that is
otherwise legal in the state, although the operation of some
forms of gambling is subject to a negotiated agreement
(compact) with the state.
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Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081