Utah Bill That Would Outlaw Online Gambling Moves Forward

Feb 22, 2012 by CasinoListings

A Utah bill that would ban online gambling throughout the state has moved on to the state Senate on Tuesday after passing through the House with a 61-9 vote.

Utah House Bill 108 was introduced by Republican State Representative Stephen Sandstrom earlier in the year and moved through the house quickly after federal politicians assured that any national legislation would include state opt outs.

Sandstrom was able to move the legislation through the House by saying that any state opt out of online gambling would have to occur within 60 days of federal legislation legalizing online gambling. He argued that the state should act proactively to protect the state from online gambling.

Commenting on gambling in his state, Sandstrom said, “Utah is unique, and one of the reasons we are unique is we do not have any forms of gambling that are legal." Utah's state constitution bans any form of gambling.

As part of the bill, the Governor of Utah would have to notify Washington that Utah will not participate in online gambling if a federal regulation of the hobby is passed.

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barbadosslim93

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22 February 2012 - 4:22pm (#1)

Ouch! I feel for any of our members that hail from Utah. If you live there, what do you think of this?

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hope777

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22 February 2012 - 8:10pm (#2)

I guess if it is already illegal to gamble across the entire state, then this should be no big surprise to the residents. If one likes to gamble that much, I am sure they would not settle in Utah, and if they had to, they would have to travel to other states to find land casinos. Utah has always been strict about gambling and alcohol, due to the strong base of Mormans, I believe.

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