Hawaii online sports betting bill to be considered by Senate

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Hawaii’s online sports betting bill, House Bill 1308, has passed in the House of Representatives 35-15 and will continue to the Senate, as reported by The Oregonian.

Hawaii and Utah are the only two states that do not have regulated gambling. HB 1308 would allow at least four online sportsbooks to operate in Hawaii. A tax rate of 10% was proposed for operators, but the bill has been amended and the new tax rate is unclear.

Hawaii’s HB 1308 is the sole survivor of two bills pushed by Representative Daniel Holt. Its companion, Senate Bill 1569, has died in the Senate’s Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, with speculation that HB 1308 might serve the same fate.

Various written testimonies have come out not in favor of the House Bill. One of its outspoken critics is the Department of the Attorney General, which said in a published testimony, “studies have shown that legalized online sports betting results in adverse societal impacts, high costs to address those adverse impacts, and increased crime.”

In the same testimony, National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling Les Bernal also opposed the bill’s legalization, saying, “there is no citizens grassroots movement for online gambling in Hawaii or any other state. The lobbying effort in Hawaii is being driven by the greed of powerful, out-of-state financial interests who stand to reap hundreds of millions of dollars in profits at the expense of your constituents.”