Gambling News - July 2005 Edition
"Outside Pressure: Will International Deals Force Gambling on Utah?"
Whether they want it or not, Utah may have gambling thrust upon it!
Gambling is coming to Utah? This is the last state where we would expect
to see legal gambling, but many residents of Utah believe that they may be able
to legally gamble over the net quite soon. Despite the fact that Utah state officials
would probably never legalize gambling, it is international developments which
just might end up making gambling legal there.
The World Trade Organization’s recent ruling, which states that
it is illegal for the United States to stop other countries from offering
Internet gambling to U.S. residents, is what will open the gates and allow
Internet gambling to become available to all U.S. residents. This, regardless
of which state they live in whether it is Utah or Hawaii or any state
that expressly forbids gambling. The Central American Free Trade Agreement
poses another potential threat to Utah’s ability to maintain gambling’s
illegal status. This agreement includes a large amount of Internet gaming
and free trade litigation from Costa Rica which may significantly have
an effect on Utah’s right, or any other state’s right, to
prohibit gambling.
Then there is the matter of the growing interest among Utah residents
themselves in Internet gambling and their desire to have legalized gambling
in their state. Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV, ran a poll which resulted
in 30 percent of Utahns saying they are in favor of the legalization of
gambling. Dan Jones, a pollster, says he has noted a growth in support
for legalized gambling even though it is generally still unpopular. If
gambling were to be made legal, studies indicate that approximately a
quarter billion dollars a year would be kept in state instead of lost
to legal gambling in neighboring states.
Some state officials in Utah do, however, support the idea. The mayor
of Wendover, Stephen Perry, thinks that legalizing gambling in his city
would help it to compete with neighboring West Wendover which is in Nevada.
Nevada, of course, attracts large numbers of tourists, businesses and
revenue, because of its casinos.
Another group in favor of the legalization of Internet gambling is the
horse racing industry, especially when it comes to horse race betting.
The horse racing industry back in 1992 pushed for a referendum which would
have legalized pari-mutuel betting in Utah. Although the proposal started
off well it was eventually rejected because of heavy opposition from the
Church of Later-day Saints.
The majority of officials doubt that Utah lawmakers would ever agree
to legalize gambling themselves, in spite of the various pressures and
if the time ever comes, will put up a good fight against its legalization.
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