Working to create the Texas Lottery in 1991, state lawmakers ran into concerns that government-sponsored gaming would tempt Texans prone to compulsive or problem gambling.
In response, lawmakers devoted $2 million a year to a state-run “compulsive gambling program” to identify and treat problem gamblers.
In its first two years, the program funded treatment for about 760 people with addictive gambling behavior and produced two influential studies of Texans’ gambling behavior.
That was the heyday of the state’s gambling addiction response. In 1996, the Legislature cut funding by more than 80%, leaving enough money to continue a problem gambling hotline that handled thousands of calls a year.
