Council of US gaming regulators looks to enable tougher standards with new guidelines

The National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) has unanimously approved a series of proposals aimed at helping states develop stricter standards in responsible gambling.

The NCLGS suggestions were based on research that spanned over two years, with input from more than 50 legislators, regulators, clinicians, community-based practitioners, and industry professionals.

Meeting as part of the NCLGS’s summer event in Denver, Colorado, the responsible gaming committee led and oversaw the vote by the NCLGS executive committee, meetings which saw the introduction of a number of non-binding resolutions all with this aim.

Resolutions approved by attendees included the creation of a national landline number for those seeking help in dealing with gambling-related harms. Other measures tabled included jurisdictional advertising guidelines to guarantee marketing is targeted towards individuals who are at a legal age to gamble.

The council also suggested marketing guidelines followed standards that did not offer content, themes, or promotions to those most at risk of gambling problems.

The resolution went on to suggest creating policies and programs that allow customers to stop playing temporarily or permanently through exclusion programs from games, statewide and across multiple jurisdictions, varying in term lengths. A separate resolution urged the use of education and harm minimization measures and the implementation of policies involving limit setting and exclusion for marketing, payments, and payment processing.

The final suggestion was the coordination of gambling exclusion lists to stop people with gambling problems from playing in other states.

NCLGS president and Senator of Indiana Jon Ford, the chair of the responsible gaming committee, suggested the measures would provide much needed support to states as they wrestle with both the issue of sports betting regulation and in some cases igaming legalization and regulation.

Senator Ford said: “Gaming in the United States is authorized and regulated at the state level, but states need guidance as gaming grows. This two-year effort by legislators is the first to leverage what we have learned for the benefit of our members as they grapple with this critical need.”

NCLGS president-elect Shawn Fluharty, Delegate of West Virginia, echoed Ford’s comments, calling on lawmakers to do what’s necessary to protect at-risk citizens.

“The extraordinary, ongoing expansion of gaming into new forms across multiple states demands that lawmakers take necessary steps to protect their most vulnerable citizens. This resolution will help them meet that critical goal,” Fluharty added.