Hawaii’s House of Representatives has successfully passed a bill to legalize sports betting in the state, but other gambling expansion proposals appear to have stalled in committee. At present, the Aloha State is one of only two—alongside Utah—with no legal real-money gambling options at all. Depending on how the Senate responds to the sports betting bill advancing, that could soon change.
Odds are still likely against the effort succeeding this year. However, it’s a promising sign—for casino hopefuls as well as sports bettors—that we’ve seen a number of bills and a little bit of movement this year. It shows that there’s some willingness in the state legislature to budge from the current prohibitionist stance.
Hawaii politics aren’t as profoundly conservative as Utah’s, and the state’s status as a tourist destination means it’s leaving some money on the table by not having any gambling to offer those visitors. Many of the gambling proposals that lawmakers have looked at this year, and in the past, have focused on gambling in the context of tourism.
However, the absence of land borders with other states is likely the biggest reason that Hawaii doesn’t yet have any gambling. When a state’s neighbors have gambling options that the state itself lacks, it creates pressure to follow suit. Otherwise, residents cross the border and end up spending money in the neighboring state that could have stayed at home. Hawaii doesn’t have that problem, though Hawaiians are known to favor Las Vegas when doing their own traveling.
What’s in Hawaii’s sports betting bill?
House Bill 1308 emerged successfully from the House on February 28, by a vote of 35 to 15. It arrived in the Senate this week, has had its first reading, and now sits with the Committee on Economic Development & Technology (EDT).
The bill would enable mobile-only sports wagering, with up to four operators licensed by the state.
The financial details of the bill have been left blank for now, however. There would be the usual licensing fee plus privilege tax on the sportsbooks’ gross revenue. However, the cost of the licenses and tax rate are still to-be-determined. So is the portion of that tax revenue that would be allocated to problem gambling funds, although the bill’s three Democrat sponsors have made it clear that funding such services with sports betting tax revenue is part of the plan.
Other proposals stall
Hawaii saw several other types of gambling proposed during the current legislative session. These included some novel suggestions, like a state-operated sweepstakes casino offering Hawaii-themed prizes to attract visitors.
However, most of these pieces of legislation have gone no further than being introduced and referred to a committee.
Aside from the sports betting bill, the most promising effort appeared to be the proposal for two tourist-oriented retail casinos in the Aloha Stadium Entertainment District on Oahu. That initially emerged from the Senate EDT and Consumer Protection & Commerce committees with a recommendation to the floor that it should pass with some minor amendments.
However, following a public consultation, the bill was re-referred to the committees. They have since deferred action on it, which means it is likely dead for the year.
That may seem like bad news, but it’s more progress than proposals in previous years have made. Gambling expansion efforts rarely succeed on the first try, so between the advancement of the sports betting bill and preliminary approval of the casino bill, it does appear that Hawaii is inching toward eventually ending prohibition.
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