Congress Moves to Address Gambling Addiction at the Federal Level
As online sports betting continues its rapid expansion across the United States, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is calling on the federal government to take a hard, comprehensive look at gambling addiction. Reps. Dan Goldman of New York and Blake Moore of Utah have jointly introduced the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act, a landmark proposal that would authorize a sweeping federal review of gambling disorder — examining its causes, progression, long-term health impacts, and the effectiveness of current prevention and treatment strategies. The move signals a growing recognition in Washington that the explosion of legal sports betting isn't just an economic story; it's increasingly a public health one.
What Is the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act?
The Gambling Disorder Health Study Act is a proposed piece of federal legislation designed to fund and direct a multi-year, comprehensive study into gambling disorder in the United States. Unlike previous efforts, which have largely been conducted at the state level or through independent research institutions, this bill would put the federal government in the driver's seat when it comes to understanding the full scope of the problem.
Under the proposal, researchers would be tasked with investigating a broad range of questions related to gambling addiction, including:
- The root causes and risk factors that make individuals vulnerable to developing a gambling disorder
- How gambling disorder progresses over time and what stages of severity look like
- The long-term physical, psychological, and financial impacts on individuals and their families
- The effectiveness of current prevention strategies and public awareness campaigns
- Available treatment options and how accessible they are across different demographic groups
- Evidence-based intervention strategies that can be deployed at the community, state, and national levels
By building a robust national evidence base, supporters of the bill argue that policymakers, healthcare providers, and communities will be far better equipped to respond to the growing crisis of problem gambling in America.
Why Now? The Rapid Rise of Online Sports Betting
The timing of this legislation is no coincidence. Since the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting in 2018 through its landmark ruling in Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, legal sports wagering has exploded across the country. Today, more than 30 states and Washington D.C. have legalized sports betting in some form, with online and mobile platforms making it easier than ever to place a bet from virtually anywhere.
The numbers are staggering. The American Gaming Association has reported that Americans wager hundreds of billions of dollars each year through legal channels alone, and that figure continues to climb. Online sportsbooks have invested heavily in advertising, often targeting younger audiences through social media, sports broadcasts, and mobile app promotions. For millions of people, sports betting has become a casual pastime. But for a meaningful subset of the population, it crosses a line into something far more serious.
Problem gambling and gambling disorder affect an estimated 1 to 3 percent of the U.S. adult population, though many researchers believe those figures are underreported. With the dramatic increase in betting accessibility, public health advocates have been warning for years that the country could be heading toward a gambling addiction crisis without the proper infrastructure to detect it, treat it, or prevent it.
The Bipartisan Nature of the Bill
One of the most notable aspects of the Gambling Disorder Health Study Act is that it has found support on both sides of the aisle. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat from New York — one of the country's most lucrative sports betting markets — and Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican from Utah — a state that still prohibits gambling — have come together around a shared concern for public health and responsible governance.
Their collaboration reflects a broader truth: gambling addiction doesn't discriminate based on political affiliation, geographic location, income level, or age. It affects conservative rural communities as much as it does urban liberal ones. In that sense, the bipartisan framing of this bill isn't just politically strategic — it's accurate to the reality on the ground.
The Public Health Argument for Federal Action
Advocates for the bill argue that the federal government has a responsibility to step in precisely because the problem has outgrown the capacity of individual states to address it alone. State-level research efforts are often underfunded, narrowly scoped, and difficult to compare across jurisdictions. A federally coordinated study would allow for standardized data collection, nationally representative samples, and findings that can inform policy across all 50 states.
Mental health professionals have long flagged gambling disorder as a serious but under-resourced condition. It is classified in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as a behavioral addiction, sharing neurological characteristics with substance use disorders. Yet treatment options remain far less developed and far less accessible than those available for alcohol or drug addiction. Federal investment in understanding the disorder could help close that gap significantly.
What Comes Next?
The Gambling Disorder Health Study Act still has a long road ahead before it could become law. It will need to gain traction in committee, secure broader co-sponsorship, and ultimately pass both chambers of Congress before being signed into law. Given the legislative environment in Washington, none of those steps are guaranteed.
Still, the introduction of the bill represents meaningful momentum. It puts gambling disorder squarely on the federal policy agenda at a moment when that conversation is long overdue. As more states continue to explore or expand legal betting, the public health infrastructure surrounding problem gambling must keep pace — and that will require exactly the kind of rigorous, federally supported evidence base this legislation aims to create.
For now, advocates, researchers, and affected families are watching closely, hoping that Congress will recognize the urgency of the issue before the costs — human and financial — grow even larger.