Hawaii Senate Committees Advance Sports Betting Bill

• A Hawaii House approved sports betting bill passed its first test in the Senate
• The Hawaii Senate Joint Committee on Economic Development, Tourism, Commerce, and Consumer Protection unanimously approved the bill
• Several members approved the bill “with reservations”

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A Hawaii sports betting bill continues to find support as it marches towards the Senate floor.

The Hawaii Senate Joint Committees on Economic Development, Tourism, Commerce, and Consumer Protection unanimously approved Rep. Daniel Holt’s bill, HB 1308, to legalize online sports betting in the Aloha State.

The Senate Committees approved the bill by a 9-0 vote, though four of the nine total members did so “with reservations.”

Who Will Regulate Sports Betting?

Holt’s legislation calls for at least four online sports betting licenses to be awarded to operators in the state and for the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to regulate the new form of gaming.

However, during the committees’ public hearing on the bill, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Director (DCCA) Nadine Ando expressed doubt that her department would be best to regulate online sports betting. She also cast doubt on online sports betting being the right answer for Hawaii.

“The idea that we’re going to have to be able to find the right people, be able to staff something like this, and build it from the ground up is something we review as considerably complex and very expensive,” she said.

Gaming for Hawaii does not make economic sense, Ando told the committees. Tax revenues for online sports betting are “often less than anticipated” and “usually not sufficient to fund or sustain” regulatory or enforcement oversight for a responsible gaming infrastructure.

It’s unknown, she told the committee, how long it would take the department promulgate sports betting rules and get the market off the ground.

“We do not currently regulate anything like this,” Ando said.

Prior to voting on the bill, Committee on Economic Development and Chairwoman Sen. Lynn DeCoite (D-7) proposed an amendment to have the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) regulate online sports betting in the state as a replacement for the DCCA.

The amendment was approved.

Hawaii Needs New Revenue

The bill now moves to the Senate Ways and Means Committee. If approved, it could then find its way to the Senate floor for discussion.

The committee heard lengthy comments from the public, including a representative from the Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council.

“We need to bring new money into the state. Unless you can tell us what you have planned to generate new money in the state, this is the only vehicle we’ve seen that we should jump on right away and get it started,” Cliff Laboy, representative for the trades council, told the committee.

The Hawaii Building and Construction Trades Council represents 35,000 construction workers in the state. The council’s members can typically only work seven months out of each year, Laboy said, so additional state revenues are needed.

“If you kill this bill, you need to show us what you have planned to bring in new money to the state.”

Several opponents spoke up during the hearing and a number of group submitted testimony against the bill. The Hawaii Department of the Attorney General submitted testimony to the committee against the bill, noting it provides only limited regulation and minimal punishment for those who engage in unlicensed sports wagering activity.

Online sports betting has shown to increase adverse societal impacts, high costs to address those impacts, and increase crime, the department wrote in its testimony.