Issue Briefing: Opposition to Gambling Expansion
HF 778 (Stephenson)
Senate bill not introduced yet
The short version
After several failed attempts, efforts to expand gambling are making progress this year. Key House and Senate leaders support significant expansion – legalizing sports betting, daily fantasy sports and mobile gaming – bringing gambling into every home, school and workplace in our state. The House bill was introduced on March 8 and had its first hearing the next day. The Senate bill should be released soon. We want legislators to hear concerns clearly and repeatedly.
The long version
These bills would expand our current lawful gambling to include sports betting and betting on daily fantasy sports. And they’d allow mobile gaming, meaning people can bet 24 hours a day from anywhere that has cell phone reception. This will certainly create significantly more problem gamblers.
Minnesota allows gambling at age 18. Many states – including neighboring Iowa, Wisconsin and North Dakota – allow bingo and purchase of lottery tickets at 18, but set a gambling age of 21 for casinos and other gambling. Research shows that gambling is especially addictive for young gamblers who are attracted to the instant gratification and allure of easy money. The University of Minnesota reports that college students are two to three times more likely to develop problem gambling than older adults. We shouldn’t consider ANY expansion of gambling unless we increase the gambling age to 21 for any expanded gaming.
Problem gambling impacts more than just the person gambling. It has significant social costs – family breakdown, mental health challenges, financial problems and a need for safety net programs. Studies show that problem gamblers have the highest suicide rates of any addiction.
Our current laws provide access to treatment for problem gamblers, but the impacted family members – coping with the devastating news of breach of trust, lost savings, possible
foreclosure, the primary breadwinner losing a job (and insurance benefits) and/or possible criminal action – are only eligible for up to 12 hours of family counseling. We need to make more family support available before we consider any expansion of gambling.
Low income Minnesotans and persons of color are more likely to be drawn in by allure of gambling. A 2020 Wilder Research study found that those with only a high school education or GED were far more likely to become problem gamblers. Black Minnesotans were more than twice as likely to become problem gamblers as White Minnesotans. To learn more about the dangers of sports betting and its impact on low income populations, read this article from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission:
How sports betting has increased predatory gambling across the U.S. - ERLC
Key points
- Expanding gambling has significant social costs. Advocates that portray this as simply entertainment are ignoring the problems that expanded gambling (and significantly expanded advertising that will follow) brings to our state.
- In our faith communities, we’ve seen individuals and families impacted by problem gambling already.
- The temptation of 24 hour access to gambling is a bad idea – bad for individuals, bad for families and bad for our communities. Even if some expansion is passed, oppose remote access.
- We shouldn’t consider any gambling expansion unless we raise the age limit for betting – sports betting or daily fantasy sports shouldn’t be allowed until age 21.