The State of Hawaii moved to closer to its first form of legal gambling late last week when its Senate approved HB1308. Under the terms of the bill, the Aloha State would offer legalized online sports betting and daily fantasy sports (DFS).
If passed into law, HB1308 would provide a framework for at least four (maybe more) operators to be licensed to offer online betting to the Aloha State. After a tremendous amount of debate, lawmakers settled on a $250,000 application fee and a ten percent tax on revenue.
But even though HB1308 is nearly the law of the land in Hawaii, there are still a few hurdles to jump before Hawaiians can start placing legal bets on sporting events. For starters, the bill must return to the Hawaiian House of Representatives for an additional vote since elements have been added since its House approval.
Support for regulated sports betting in Hawaii has not exactly been overwhelming with the Hawaiian Senate passing the bill in a vote of 15-10. Even after the vote, passions remained high as the opposition voiced its anger at the thought of legal sports betting. Several lawmakers voiced their opinions by shouting, “Shame on you,” to the gathered political body.
The next big hurdle for regulated Hawaiian sports betting is figuring out which department will actually be in charge of the endeavor. Earlier versions of the bill had the Department of Consumer Protection running the show, but that department said that adding regulated gambling to their slate simply wasn’t viable. The current version of the bill puts regulatory enforcement under the jurisdiction of the Hawaiian Department of Law Enforcement.
Hawaii and Utah are the only two US States that currently offer no forms of legal gambling, including lotteries.