Online sports betting will not be legalized this legislative session. Lawmakers decided to defer the measure Friday afternoon.
The bill would have allowed online sports betting and taxed it at a 10% rate.
Rep. Daniel Holt, who introduced the bill, explained that the House and Senate could not come to an agreement on the number of operators allowed in the state, the tax rates and fees.
He added that he doesn’t agree with those accusing him of bringing gambling to Hawaiʻi, because people are already gambling illegally.
“ In the recent days, we’ve been getting a lot of emails and stuff, people contacting me, saying that I'm trying to bring gambling to Hawaiʻi. I just wanna say that it's already happening here,” he said. “It's something that I just felt like we needed to capture the revenue on… it's just about making sure we have revenue to fund our core functions.”
But those against legalizing sports betting, citing negative health and financial impacts, say it can be harmful to residents' well-being.
Stop Predatory Gambling National Director Les Bernal praised lawmakers for tabling the sports gambling measure.
“ The people of Hawaiʻi have been working really hard over the last week to say that the state of Hawaiʻi is not for sale to gambling interests,” he said.
"[Lawmakers] need to start relying on independent facts, the truth about the predatory gambling industry, and stop relying on gambling industry statistics, which has driven this debate here.”
Legislators will work on the measure in the interim and revisit the issue next year.
