While online poker receives extraordinarily little attention from state legislatures, sports betting continues to draw support from those very pols looking to raise revenues. Thirty-eight states plus the District of Columbia have passed some form of sports betting or daily fantasy sports, but one is going to have to wait for another legislative session before it can be considered again.
Hawaii Fails to Come to Agreement on Legislation
Last week, the Hawaii Legislature wrapped up its session for 2025, with several matters still on the table for the body. Legislation regarding assault-style weapons was a hotly contested issue, barely failing to pass through the body, but it was at the very least put before the politicians. Another bill that would have opened Hawaii for online sports betting could not even garner agreement between the House and the Senate.
House Bill 1308 would have opened sports betting for its citizens, but it would have also generated a huge amount of money for the state’s coffers. An initial $250,000 licensing fee was proposed in the Senate version of the bill, but the House felt that was too excessive and removed it. That was only one of the major problems between the bodies in the Hawaii Legislature.
Opponents of the legislation came out in force against any regulation of the industry for the Aloha State. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blandiardi, City Prosecutor Steve Alm, and Honolulu Police Chief Arthur Logan issued a joint statement that read, “Online sports betting is not harmless entertainment, it is a high-tech pipeline to addiction and financial ruin.” Not surprisingly, the organization Stop Predatory Gambling was also behind efforts to quash the bill.
House Representative Daniel Holt (D-District 28) kept a positive outlook on the future for sports betting in Hawaii, however. “We put our best effort forward (and) we got it very far this year…we haven’t come to an agreement” on several areas, Holt said. Another Representative, Greggor Ilagan, agreed with Holt in saying, “It’s very hard to get a compromise and, at this point, we have a House and Senate disagreement.”
Long History of Disappointment in Hawaii
This is not the first time that Hawaii has danced with the passage of some form of online gaming regulation.
As far back as 2012, Hawaii has proposed online gaming. That year, the proposal was for online poker in the state, with the revenue generated going to public schools, the University of Hawaii system, and a scholarship/loan repayment program for doctors who came to practice in the state. The Hawaii Senate decided to take a swing the next year, looking to legalize not only online poker but also sports betting, but it also failed.
The Sports Betting Alliance has examined the Hawaii market and estimates that Hawaiians wager about $300 million through bookmakers and non-regulated sites. While the actual number of Hawaiians who would be able to play on a regulated Hawaiian market is less than 1.45 million people (slightly larger than Delaware), what the legislators are looking to garner is the action from tourists who come to the islands. Roughly ten million people a year come to the jewel of the Pacific and offering another option for visitors would be a boon to the economy of Hawaii
Hawaii depends extremely on the tourism industry, one that has been severely impacted by several factors in the past few years. Of course, COVID hammered the islands back in 2020-21. Just as the area was beginning to regain its footing from that, 2023 brought the devastating wildfires that struck the island of Maui. The city of Lahaina was basically wiped off the map by those wind-driven wildfires, and new legislation was passed to improve the containment of wild grasses and other flora and help mitigate the effects of climate change.
A bill passed during this last legislative session added taxes to hotel rooms, timeshares, and vacation rentals, while adding another tax on cruise ships for each night the ships are in port. The new taxes are expected to raise $100 million per year, but any further shortfalls in the tourism industry would see passing online gaming legislation as another component to raise revenues.
