Hawaiʻi came close to legalizing sports betting, but familiar issues caused the current attempt to be dismissed.
A bill that aimed to both legalize and regulate sports gambling has failed to gain the support it needed. According to Hawaiʻian law, the matter can now not be raised again until the next legislative session next year.
Representative Daniel Holt sponsored the bill and told Gambling News that, despite doing all he could to support the bill, there were some controversial issues that couldn’t be overcome, including taxation and the question of who would regulate the fledgling industry.
“It is what it is, and we just got to work harder next year, try to answer the questions that the rest of the members and the public have, and see if we can capture this tax revenue that we much need for our state,” said Rep. Holt.
The background of gambling in Hawaiʻi
Typically, Hawaiʻi has been against the idea of allowing mainland gambling companies from the US to set up services on the island. There are fears that introducing sports betting could open the door for illegal activities like human trafficking or expose locals to potential gambling-related harm. With both of these areas raising concerns in the US, the worries are understandable.
However, the current bill, despite not passing, is thought to have done some good for those in favor of it passing. Hawaiʻi Ironworkers Stabilization Fund representative Cliff Laboy said that the current bill helped to define future proposals’ language and identify the fears of those opposing the legislation.
“Get the task force, go out there, find out, study, do your due diligence, come back, go back to the table, and figure out which way you want to go,” said Laboy. “But Hawaii needs something like this. There’s no other way… unless the legislators can come to the general public with a plan on how we’re gonna bring new money into the state.”
While sports betting is thought to be a potential source of new income that Hawaiʻi sorely needs, fears of the negative knock-on effects of legalizing sports are prohibiting its progress.
