The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee recently approved Bill 5668, the Responsible Gaming and Research Act, which requires gambling operators in the state to provide anonymous player data to West Virginia University.
The university and the State Lottery Commission’s Department of Human Services plan to research problem and addictive gambling behaviors to gain insight that will help legislators create future laws to enhance gambling safety. The bill now moves to the full House.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, the bill’s sponsor, said the measure has the support of state Rep. Shawn Fluharty, president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States.
Sheila Moran, director of marketing and communications at helpline provider First Choice Services said existing gambling helplines use research from a national study that’s more than 20 years old.
Per WTRF, she said, “So, people ask us all the time, how big of a problem is gambling addiction in West Virginia? And we think it’s a pretty big problem. But that’s based on helpline data and communications with people in the community. So, we can’t say for certain because there’s never been a real prevalence study done here. ”
To ensure privacy, any data provided under RGRA will not be considered a public record, and will not be available through Freedom of Information Act requests. If the bill passes, Moran said, an annual report could be issued as early as 2026.
Moran also noted discrepancies frequently occur between self-reports and third-party research. She said, “I think it would be very interesting to have the actual data from how people are truly behaving online, how they’re spending money. We know that there are certain tells in the data that will indicate problem gambling, and we would really like to know how much of that we’re dealing with that would help us, help us know how to target our efforts.”
