House lawmakers passed a resolution Monday to convene a working group to evaluate legalized gambling in Hawaiʻi.
The group would review gambling legislation introduced in past sessions and consider its potential in the planned New Aloha Stadium Entertainment District. The working group would include Hawaiʻi lawmakers, one person from social services, and three people representing gaming corporations.
Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm thinks it’s a bad idea.
"The red flags are that online gambling in particular is going to hurt lower-income folks more. It's going to create more problem gamblers because having a casino in your hand 24/7 is light-years away from having to go to a casino,” he told lawmakers last week.
“They make their money disproportionately from the problem gamblers, the people that lose a lot. And that really would mean Hawaiʻi is in the addiction-for-profit business, and I don't think that's where we want to be.”
Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism Director James Tokioka supports the resolution. He told lawmakers that the information from the working group would be useful, and help the Legislature make better decisions about gambling policies.
"I want to make it clear for people to understand why we are doing this is I don't think we can make a bad decision with too much information,” he said. “So what you guys will be doing for, or against in the community — it'll be a group that will be reaching out to the communities, getting information, making sure that the communities feel like their input is accounted for.”
Several House members voted against the study because they saw it as a pathway to allowing legalized gambling in Hawaiʻi.
"When you create a working group, invite representatives of gaming corporations to the table and ask them to help draft the tourism gaming policy, you're not just studying the issue, you're scripting the outcome,” said Rep. Andrew Takuya Garrett.
“We've seen it across the country, a so-called neutral study becomes a vehicle to legitimize the industry, sideline community voices, and paint gambling as inevitable. And once that narrative takes hold, it's almost impossible to turn back.”
However, Rep. Daniel Holt told lawmakers that the state is losing revenue by not legalizing gambling, which he explained is already happening illegally.
“It has been mentioned that it's possible to increase our job count by 6,000 jobs and a benefit of $250 million-plus to our economy. So I don't know any other industry currently that could provide these kinds of benefits to our state,” he said.
“Hawaiʻi's leaving a substantial revenue on the table, and this would just create a working group to answer some of the questions that we have... We're such a unique state, so the framework would definitely have to be tailored to specifically fit our needs here in Hawaiʻi.”
The resolution comes as a separate bill that would legalize sports betting in Hawaiʻi, which Holt introduced, awaits a conference committee hearing before it can go to a final vote on the House and Senate floors.
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