Bills to legalize gaming in Hawaii are dead for this session, say Aloha lawmakers. The bills would have authorized casinos, sports betting and a lottery.
The bills suffered a variety of fates in the House of Representatives and the Senate, including being voted down in committee or not even making it to committee but all meant the same thing: DOA.
That has been the fate of gaming bills over the last 20 years. So Hawaii continues to be one of two states (Utah) is the other, where any form of gaming is illegal.
House Vice Speaker John Mizuno, the author of one of the bills, said, “The majority of people in the Legislature do not feel gambling is the way to help Hawaii go forward.”
Gaming opponent Eva Andrade, CEO of the Hawaii Family Forum, commented, “Now it would all be brought to the front door: all the ill effects that come with gambling would be made available to more people. We don’t see that as a positive thing.”
One bill, Senate Bill 2608 and House Bill 1962, would have funded a gaming study for the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. It died without any action or hearing.
Senator Kurt Fevella opposed that particular idea and feels that any gaming study should be for the entire state. He would prefer that any gaming start modestly, with either bingo or a lottery.
A bill that would have set up a lottery, Senate Bill 2310, did not get a hearing. Even fantasy sports was killed by the House Economic Development Committee.
