LCO No. 5408 1 of 3
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1014
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5408
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC SAFETY AND SECURITY
Introduced by:
(PS)
AN ACT CONCERNING FU NDING FOR COMPULSIVE GAMBLING
TREATMENT AND REHABI LITATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 17a-713 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 2
(a) The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services shall 3
establish a program for the treatment and rehabilitation of compulsive 4
gamblers in the state. The program shall provide prevention, treatment 5
and rehabilitation services for chronic gamblers. The department may 6
enter into agreements with subregional planning and action councils 7
and nonprofit organizations to assist in providing these services, 8
provided not less than twenty-five per cent of the amount received 9
pursuant to section 12-818 annually shall be set aside for contracts with 10
subregional planning and action councils established pursuant to 11
section 17a-671 and nonprofit organizations and not less than five per 12
cent of the amount received pursuant to section 12-818 annually shall 13
be set aside for a contract with the Connecticut Council on Problem 14
Gambling. The department may impose a reasonable fee, on a sliding 15 Raised Bill No. 1014
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scale, on those participants who can afford to pay for any such 16
services. The department shall implement such program when the 17
account established under subsection (b) of this section is sufficient to 18
meet initial operating expenses. As used in this section, "chronic 19
gambler" means a person who is chronically and progressively 20
preoccupied with gambling and the urge to gamble, and with 21
gambling behavior that compromises, disrupts or damages personal, 22
family or vocational pursuits. 23
(b) The program established by subsection (a) of this section shall be 24
funded by: [imposition of:] (1) [A] Imposition of a fee of one hundred 25
thirty-five dollars on each association license, for each performance of 26
jai alai or dog racing conducted under the provisions of chapter 226, 27
provided no such licensee shall contribute more than forty-five 28
thousand dollars in any one year; (2) imposition of a fee of twenty-five 29
dollars for each teletheater performance on each operator of a 30
teletheater facility; [and] (3) the amount received from the Connecticut 31
Lottery Corporation pursuant to section 12-818; and (4) a transfer of 32
twenty-five per cent of the revenue the state obtains from any forms of 33
gaming newly enacted or authorized in the state on or after January 1, 34
2019. The Commissioner of Consumer Protection shall collect the fee 35
from each association licensee or such operator on a monthly basis. 36
The receipts shall be deposited in the General Fund and credited to a 37
separate, nonlapsing chronic gamblers treatment and rehabilitation 38
account which shall be established by the Comptroller. All moneys in 39
the account are deemed to be appropriated and shall be expended for 40
the purposes established in subsection (a) of this section. 41
(c) The department shall adopt regulations in accordance with the 42
provisions of chapter 54 to carry out the purposes of this section. 43
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage 17a-713
Raised Bill No. 1014
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Statement of Purpose:
To increase the funding for treatment and rehabilitation of compulsive
gamblers.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]