The effort to legalize online sports betting in Hawaii took a big step forward on Tuesday when it was approved in the House.
Representatives voted 35-15 to pass Honolulu Rep. Daniel Holt’s HB 1308. Only three of the yes votes came with reservations.
In introducing his bill to the full floor, Holt noted that sports wagering is already happening in the shadows, without state oversight or financial benefit.
HB 1308 would allow a minimum of four sports betting platforms to be licensed by the state, effective July 1, 2025. Fantasy sports would also be legalized under their own vertical. The bill progressed through multiple House committees but met with some level of pushback at every step.
In a committee session last week, the Finance Committee greenlit the measure by a vote of 12-3 but half of the yes votes came with reservations and the proposal was labeled “a work in progres.”. The group approved a number of amendments, including scratching the recommended licensing fee ($250,000 for a five-year license) and the suggested tax rate (10%) and leaving those numbers blank in the bill’s revised text.
Holt supported those amendments and said on Tuesday that he is willing to consider different fees and tax rates.
Multiple representatives voiced their opposition to the bill on Tuesday before it passed.
Rep. David Alcos asserted that when gambling is legalized, “there’s a lot of bad things that follow, from sex trafficking to stealing to all kinds of bad things that happen when you open doors to legalizing gambling.”
“Do we want to see Hawaii be like Vegas? That’s a question we should be asking ourselves…” Alcos asked the chamber. “Do we want this kind of money in the state of Hawaii to fix our roads?”
Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto noted that her objection was one of economics, not morals.
“Even local game rooms and chicken fights, which I do not support… contribute to a circular economy because that money is staying within the community,” she said. “Online gaming, most of that money is just going into another state,” Iwamoto would rather increase other state taxes that legalize online betting to generate revenue.
Questioning the validity of the argument that gambling is already going on “underground,” Rep. Chris Muraoka cited hard drug dealers in his concerns.
“The underground market is already thriving? We can use that same argument for meth dealers and cocaine dealers, even fentanyl. It doesn’t make it right.”
While numerous government departments and agencies have expressed significant concerns throughout this legislative session, Hawaii’s workers’ unions and the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) have been big advocates, pointing to the direct and indirect economic potential.
The SBA noted that more than 1300 Hawaii constituents have reached out to their legislators to support sports betting legalization.
While the bill has been approved in the House, its Senate counterpart stalled last week.
SB 1569 was deferred at a Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee hearing on Feb. 26 after meeting pushback from the Department of the Attorney General and various other governmental departments.
At least three other Senate bills concerning online gambling in various forms have made no progress since being referred to committee.
The sports betting issue would need the support of both chambers to have a chance of becoming reality.
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