Lottery in Utah? State lawmaker revives proposal

Could the lottery finally be coming to Utah?

Writer

Published Aug 06, 2024, 22:55 EDT

Driving across state lines to play the lottery could be coming to an end for Utahns if one state lawmaker has anything to say about it!

Reintroducing constitutional amendment

Rep. Kera Birkeland confirmed with KSTU that she is reintroducing a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize the lottery in Utah.

"What I'm trying to do is just capture the existing behavior of people who will drive across the state line to buy those tickets," Rep. Birkeland, R-Mountain Green, told KSTU.

Part of Rep. Birkeland's argument for bringing the lottery to Utah is that Utahns spend at least $200 million a year outside the state on lottery tickets. She said that money could be used inside the state instead, helping to lower taxes. Her proposal would also legalize charity raffles, which is technically illegal, but happens all the time.

Rep. Birkeland first proposed this concept last year, but it went nowhere on Utah's Capitol Hill. While she saw House leadership show support for the idea, leaders in the Senate signaled its disapproval. Governor Spencer Cox also had concerns about the amendment.

Meanwhile, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has a very powerful presence on Capitol Hill, has made it clear that it doesn't approve of gambling, including lotteries.

Support from the public

While Rep. Birkeland is getting mixed reviews from Capitol Hill, she was pleasantly surprised to see all of the supportive comments from her constituents and the public. That support is the reason why she is bringing back the legislation.

She told KSTU, "It actually had a lot more public support than I was expecting.”

Some of those supporters are Jeff and Debra Hartman, a couple living in Cedar City. They told KSTU that they often drive to Littlefield, Arizona, to try their luck at the lottery. When asked if Utah should legalize the lottery, the Hartmans definitely seemed to agree with it.

Debra Hartman told KSTU, "Might as well keep the revenue in Utah as opposed to us traveling here to Arizona to spend our lottery money.”

Her husband added, “A lot of money involved, so maybe Utah ought to consider it.”

A change to the proposal this time

Currently, the state of Utah has a constitutional prohibition on gaming, including lotteries. That is why a constitutional amendment would be required to legalize the lottery. However, Rep. Birkeland is trying to do a workaround to get more support for her bill.

She stated:

What I'm proposing this year is that any county that borders a state with the lottery can open up and have the lottery in that county. So that you don't have people in the heart of Salt Lake City or wherever else, just walking down the street to a convenience store, buying a lottery ticket. It still creates a little bit of work to get there.

Under this proposal, some of Utah's most populous counties, like Salt Lake, Davis, Utah, and Weber, wouldn't be allowed to sell lottery tickets. However, those counties that border Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona would.

Rep. Birkeland insists she is not creating a new incentive for people. She is only trying to stop them from crossing the border into another state to buy their tickets. Instead, buy the tickets in the state and maybe throw a little business to rural Utah communities that could benefit from ticket sales.

She said:

There's still those saying that this is, you know, really going to decay morally our state and to them I just hope that this compromise is showing we're not again, changing behaviors, we're just capturing those same behaviors within our state limits.