House Bill 1107 recently was introduced in Hawaii to legalize sports betting for participants age 18 or older. The bill would direct all sports wagering proceeds to a specially created corporation, which would distribute the funds to capital infrastructure projects throughout the state and would become part of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism.
According to the measure, thousands of Hawaii residents “participate in illegal online sports gambling on unregulated internet web sites. These gambling web sites are operated by illegal offshore operators not subject to regulation or taxation in the United States. Neither federal nor Hawaii laws currently provide any consumer protections for Hawaii residents who play on these web sites. Moreover, tens of millions of dollars in revenues generated from online gambling are being realized by offshore operators serving Hawaii residents, but no benefits are provided to the state.”
The measure states the corporation’s board would select and work with a private sports wagering provider. The board would determine regulations, policies and procedures for the sports wagering provider to follow, such as sports wagering locations. In addition, the corporation would provide a hotline and information for problem gamblers.
Currently, Hawaii currently prohibits all forms of gambling, and in 2013 the legislature voted against commissioning a study to evaluate legalized gambling’s social and economic benefits and costs.
