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House passes law clarifying private-club gaming: charging to play will be barred
Summary
The House approved first-substitute House Bill 104 to clarify that private clubs may hold gaming activities but may not require payment (meals/fees) to play; sponsors say the move codifies existing state policy and prevents a legal foothold for Indian gaming arrangements.
Representative Sandstrom told the House that first-substitute House Bill 104 would clarify state law within the Beverage Control Act so that private clubs and bingo halls may not require payment or a purchase (for example, a meal) as a condition of participating in gaming activities. The sponsor emphasized that the bill does not ban private poker games or bingo but eliminates the ability to charge to play in tournaments or require purchases to participate.
Sandstrom said the change is intended to remove a statutory "gray area" in private-club operations that, if left unresolved, could create an opening for gaming activities to expand: "By further codifying this law and clarifying it, it will assure that Indian gaming will not get any kind of foothold in the state of Utah," the sponsor said on the floor.
Questions from the floor focused on which private organizations supported the amended language and how the bill would affect sweepstakes or bingo operations that historically used purchase requirements to qualify participants. The sponsor replied that members of the private-club industry supported the amended bill as written and cited a past prosecution of a bingo parlor that required meal purchases.
Final vote and next steps: The House passed the first substitute to H.B. 104 by recorded vote (41 yes, 30 no, 4 absent) and sent it to the Senate for further consideration.
