Sen. Karen Mayne (D-West Valley City) drafted the bill last month. While it targeted any sort of gambling offered by a business in Utah, it was designed with slot machine-like games that have proliferated in convenience stores and other locations in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a cancer that needs to be out of the state of Utah,\u201d<\/strong> Mayne said at a news conference in late February. \u201cThese are slot machines that are in mini-marts, laundromats, beauty salons, and they\u2019re more aggressive every single day.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nIn the House debate over the bill, many legislators spoke of a scourge that needed to be extinguished from the state. They claimed it was one that was difficult to eliminate entirely because operators continued to try to find loopholes in the laws already on the books in order to stay in business.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a little like a game of whac-a-mole,\u201d House sponsor Rep. Timothy Hawkes (R-Centerville) told reporters after the House passed the bill in a 63-8 vote.<\/p>\n
Others told horror stories about the dangers of these fringe gambling machines. Lawmakers claimed that the same locations that have the faux slots often become centers for drug dealing, prostitution, and other forms of illegal activity. Some also argued that the machines disproportionately impact the poor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere really is nothing legitimate about these businesses,\u201d Layton City Attorney Gary Crane said last month. \u201cThey\u2019re there for one purpose, and that is to take money from those individuals who can least afford it.\u201d<\/p>\n