Texas cut its last dedicated gambling addiction funding in 2004, when lawmakers dissolved the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and killed a problem gambling hotline that had handled thousands of calls a year. More than two decades later, the state still has no money allocated to treat compulsive gambling, even as the Texas Lottery continues to generate billions in annual revenue.
How Texas Dismantled Its Own Gambling Treatment Program
The retreat spans 30 years of deliberate legislative decisions. Texas created a $2 million-per-year compulsive gambling program in 1991, when the Legislature established the state lottery, after lawmakers acknowledged that government-sponsored gaming could harm vulnerable residents. In its first two years, the program treated roughly 760 people and funded two studies of gambling behavior statewide.
By 1996, the Legislature had cut that funding by more than 80%. The surviving hotline was eliminated in 2004. The authorizing statute was removed from the books in 2009, briefly restored in 2015 during a health and human services update, and remains on the books today with zero dollars attached.
7 states in the U.S. provide no public funding for gambling addiction treatment. Texas is one of them.
Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling, via Texas Tribune
That gap is now being filled, in part, by a casino company. Las Vegas Sands donated $100,000 to the Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling, the state’s primary nonprofit treating compulsive gamblers. Sands has also spent years lobbying the Texas Legislature to legalize resort casino operations in the state, which currently bans most commercial gambling.
“For all those years, thousands and thousands and thousands of Texans have been suffering.”
Carol Ann Maner, chair, Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling, Texas Tribune
The donation is not prohibited. Casino companies routinely fund responsible gaming programs. But the dynamic is worth naming directly: the company most positioned to profit from expanded Texas gambling is now subsidizing the only organization filling the state’s treatment void.
If Texas legalizes casino gambling, demand for addiction services would grow. The state has made no commitment to fund them.
The Legislature Has the Power to Restore Funding in 2027
Texas lawmakers have the authority to restore the compulsive gambling program in any regular session. The 89th Legislature adjourned in June 2025 without restoring funding. The 90th Legislature convenes in January 2027, and budget requests are being shaped now. Carol Ann Maner and the Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling are actively seeking legislative action, according to the Texas Tribune’s reporting.
Texas health and human services statutes still include the compulsive gambling program framework. Restoring it requires an appropriation, not new legislation.
What you can do now
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Call your Texas state representative and senator and tell them to include compulsive gambling treatment funding in the 2027 budget. Find your legislators by address at capitol.texas.gov. Budget requests are being drafted before the January 2027 session opens.
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Contact the Texas Health and Human Services Commission at (512) 424-6500 and ask the agency to include gambling addiction treatment in its next legislative appropriations request. The commission oversees the dormant compulsive gambling statute and can signal to lawmakers that funding is needed.
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Email the Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling through texascoalitiononproblemgambling.org and ask how to submit written testimony or sign on to their legislative funding request. Direct constituent voices strengthen their case before the Legislature convenes.
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If you or someone you know needs help now, contact the National Council on Problem Gambling helpline at 1-800-522-4700, available 24 hours a day. Texas does not fund this service. It is operated by a national nonprofit.
Sources
- Texas stopped funding gambling addiction programs years ago. A surprising donor is helping fill the void. — Texas Tribune (2026-06-15)
National Council on Problem Gambling: State Funding for Problem Gambling Services 2024
Texas Health and Human Services Commission: Behavioral Health Services Overview
Texas Lottery Commission: Annual Reports and Revenue Data
[Stat: $100,000, Las Vegas Sands donation to Texas Coalition on Problem Gambling.
Texas Tribune]