Utah pushing for states rights to trump in setting online gambling laws

Lawmakers in Utah are starting to make their voices heard in the battle over online gambling and poker, with some calling for the United States to ensure that individual states have authority over the federal government on the subject.

Sheryl Allen, a U.S. representative and a Republican from the notoriously conservative state, is one of the Utahns that wants to pass House Joint Resolution 1, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. The resolution would give individual states the power to determine whether online gambling is legal in their state — currently, gambling is outlawed by the state’s constitution. Utah lawmakers are worried that U.S. negotiations with the World Trade Organization and laws at the national and international levels may eventually lead to legalized gambling in their state.

According to the Tribune:

“Computers made it much easier to gamble” — even from the comfort of one’s Utah home, said Allen, who heads the Utah International Trade Commission, created in 2006 by HB39.

This November, commission members drafted HJR1 in hopes of persuading federal officials to favor domestic interests over international priorities and allow states to decide about gambling.

“Many see gambling as a moral issue,” Allen said. “But I’m looking at it as a states’ rights issue.”

Whole thing here.

More on this resolution, especially if it gains steam in Congress.