A new bill in the U.S. Senate, supported by Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis, serves as a part of a larger effort to curb gambling issues throughout the country.
The bill stems from an uptick in prediction betting, a system in which people can bet on the outcomes of future events.
A survey conducted by The Siena Research Institute and St. Bonaventure University found that 27% of Americans have an active account with an online prediction market. This percentage has been slowly, but steadily, increasing over the past couple years.
The Prediction Markets are Gambling Act would prohibit organizations from allowing any prediction contracts related to sporting events, athletic competitions, and casino-style games.
Curtis is cosponsoring the bill, along with Adam Schiff of California and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, both Democrats.
“This is an issue that’s just kind of coming into consciousness for people," Curtis said. "My other co-sponsors and I were not really trying to solve all of the problems with predictive markets. We’re narrowing in on a slice of it with this bill.”
Curtis assured the act will have little to no effect on the economy.
”Anybody that looks at gambling knows it’s a regressive tax, and so the impact of us not controlling this is far more detrimental," Curtis said.
For over a century, Utah has had a strict gambling ban in place. However, prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket are frequently used as loopholes around this ban.
This year, lawmakers passed House Bill 243, which shuts down this loophole by clarifying that the definition of gambling includes proposition bets.
Alongside these proposals is the “Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act of 2026,” which prohibits government officials from using nonpublic information to trade prediction contracts. Curtis and Schiff are also cosponsoring this bill alongside its sponsor Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and cosponsor Republican Sen. Todd Young of Indiana.
Throughout his term, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown has led similar efforts against gambling.
In August, alongside 49 other attorney generals, Brown urged the U.S. Department of Justice to assist efforts to slow illegal offshore gambling throughout the country, with Brown stressing the importance of a nationwide ban.
Brown argued that offshore gambling operations expose Utahn users to fraudulent schemes, foster gambling addictions, and are a breeding ground for criminal behavior.
In February, Brown wrote an opinion piece with the Deseret News on prediction markets, stating that you can “bet on him” taking action against gambling.
“What starts as a simple tap quietly takes over a person’s life, trapping them until their world shrinks down to the next gamble. Its grip tightens with every tap,” Brown wrote
Despite ongoing action to combat the effects of gambling, Brown declined to comment on the federal bill when UPR reached out.
Many of these efforts to curb gambling are still ongoing or haven't been decided. Curtis said he believes his bill on sports prediction bets will pass, but he’ll propose it again next year if it doesn’t.
Curtis mentioned several other bills on the same subject, and expects ongoing federal action against gambling, noting the Senate’s concern as gambling rates rise throughout the U.S.
“What you’re going to see from the Senate is not a short list of bills dealing with these markets," Curtis said. "It’s very clear to me and my colleagues that this is important, that we jump on quickly.”
