Hawaii has moved a step closer to legalizing online sports betting after House Bill 1308 passed its latest vote.
HB 1308 was voted unanimously through the joint Senate committee, although four of the nine votes cast came “with reservations.”
Should the bill be passed, it would permit up to four online sports betting platforms. However, it would not grant any retail presence, and the proposed legislation does not mention cryptocurrency sportsbooks despite Hawaii’s reputation for being crypto-friendly.
HB 1308 Advances—The Closest Hawaii Has Come to Legalized Betting
The bill has gone further than any previous attempt to legalize wagering. It has been approved by the full House chamber and both the Senate committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection, and on Economic Development and Tourism.
Rep. Holt’s bill, which was introduced in the house, initially proposed a $250,000 licensing fee for a five-year license and a 10 percent tax rate on sports betting and daily fantasy sports activity in the Aloha State.
The low barriers to entry were met with vocal opposition, and as a result the bill passed to the Senate with both the tax rate and licensing fee as “blank.” Rep. Keohokapu-Lee Loy suggested that the cost “appears rather low for an industry that makes billions of dollars.”
“I would love to see that license fee go up exponentially,” continued the Representative.
On Thursday, senators struck another key amendment to the bill. Nadine Ando, the Director of Hawaii’s Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, suggested her department was ill-equipped to set up a legal sports betting infrastructure from scratch. She suggested that the effort and resources required had been inadequately considered, claiming it could prove to be “considerably complex and very expensive.”
In written testimony, Ando cited Boyd Gaming’s testimony that suggested: “many other states in comparable sized markets to Hawaii that have passed isolated sports wagering legislation have been disappointed in the outcome — tax revenues from online sports wagering are often less than anticipated, and the revenues are usually not sufficient to fund or sustain regulatory and enforcement oversight and a responsible gaming infrastructure, crucial components of any gaming framework.”
Hawaii’s Betting Bill Aims to Capture Revenue from Illegal Markets
Speakers in the Senate emphasized that unlicensed gambling is already rife, and the state is just forgoing tax revenue by not having a legalized iteration. Senator Glenn Wakai emphasized, “You can change the VPN on your phone to be out of Nigeria or another state. We’re not starting from zero; there’s a prevalence of gambling here.”
Sen. Donna Mercado Kim added: “I know that any Sunday if you’re watching football, almost everyone is betting on the game. I’m sure law enforcement people sitting in this room have bet on games at home as well. It’s already there and looking in our face.”
After Ando’s concerns about the legislative process and her department, an amendment was made to replace the Commerce and Consumer Affairs department with the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
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