Utah’s fight against prediction markets has made its way to Congress.

As the Beehive State and a number of others around the U.S. find themselves embroiled in legal battles with the prediction market site Kalshi, two members of Utah’s federal delegation have introduced legislation to regulate “event contracts,” aiming to rein in the profitable and controversial prop betting industry.

U.S. Rep. Blake Moore, a Republican who represents Utah’s 1st Congressional District, introduced the Event Contract Enforcement Act earlier this month. The bill would ban event contracts related to terrorism, assassination, war, gaming, illegal activity, election outcomes, government activities “or other activities determined by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to be contrary to the public interest.”

A ban on specific prediction markets became federal law after the 2008 financial crisis when Congress passed 2010’s Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Moore said.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure and give teeth to existing regulation to move it to a more aggressive enforcement opportunity, because, right now, it’s a little bit passive,” the congressman said.

The bill is cosponsored by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, a California Democrat, and comes as the debate over Kalshi has erupted in recent weeks.

Kalshi argues that they are not a gambling platform, and that rather than placing a bet on, say, the Utah State Aggies to win the March Madness tournament, people are simply buying “event contracts” that pay out if the Aggies succeed.

It’s an issue that has raised concern among lawmakers in Utah, who passed HB243 during the recent legislative session, which sought to clarify that proposition bets fall within the definition of gambling and thus violate Utah’s ban on “games of chance.”

Kalshi sued the state before the bill even reached the governor’s desk — a lawsuit that is currently paused. Several other related suits are pending around the U.S., including in Arizona, where the state has filed criminal charges against the platform, accusing the company of running an illegal gambling operation. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said earlier this month that he was interested in potentially doing the same here.

Moore said his federal bill was inspired by Cox’s concerns, as well as those raised by Utah Attorney General Derek Brown. He said as well that he aimed to ensure the legislation would not encroach on traditional futures markets, such as corn, which farmers can use to set prices on future purchases.

“We do not want to have a traditionally legitimate financial tool … to create a loophole for basic online gambling in our states, and particularly states that don’t want to allow that type of activity,” Moore said.

‘We’re not banning sports betting’

Moore isn’t the only member of Utah’s federal delegation looking to crack down on Kalshi.

U.S. Sen. John Curtis recently introduced legislation to ban event contracts that look like sports bets or “casino-style games.”

“Let me say, we’re not banning sports betting,” Curtis said during an appearance on CNBC last week. “We’re just simply putting it in the right places to be regulated — and one of those places is in the state."

Curtis added: “Utah does not allow gambling in any form. So, one of the things that’s really important to me is that we don’t take this control away from Utah.”

Curtis is also sponsoring another bill, the Public Integrity in Financial Prediction Markets Act, which would prohibit federally elected officials and government employees from using insider information to bet on prediction market contracts.

“Public service should not be a pathway to private gain,” Curtis said in a Thursday news release.

A bill that combines some aspects of both Curtis and Moore’s bills was also introduced Thursday by a group of congressional Democrats, who are seeking to ban prediction markets for sports, war, government actions and elections.

Though Moore and Curtis’s bills differ, Moore said he thinks they share similar goals.

“It’s all sort of addressing the same area,” he said. “I think we can all work together really well on this… and put a stake in the ground and say, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna allow for this.’”

Despite the flurry of attention around prediction markets in recent weeks, Moore said he doesn’t think it’s likely that his proposal will become law immediately.

“This takes some time, but it’s very good to see people starting to recognize, ‘Oh, yeah, we shouldn’t be allowing for anonymous bets on whether or not the U.S. is going to conduct a military operation somewhere, or if a politician is going to retire,’” he said. “Like, all reasonable folks can get behind that.”

But perhaps the biggest hurdle for Moore, Curtis and other lawmakers looking to regulate the prediction markets? The Trump administration.

Michael Selig, the recently appointed chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is backing Kalshi and other prediction markets in their ongoing legal fights with state governments, arguing that regulations undermine the authority of federal regulators.

“To those who seek to challenge our authority in this space, let me be clear: We will see you in court,” Selig said in a video statement last month.

And Donald Trump Jr., the president’s oldest son, is a “strategic advisor” for Kalshi, a position he took last January.

But Moore brushed off any concerns that the administration might push back against federal regulations.

“We haven’t heard from the administration at all,” he said. “So that’s going to be more of a talking point than a substantive matter that we’re going to get any pressure on. This is gaining good steam.”