Sports wagering will not become legal in Hawaii this year.
The final measure, House Bill 1308, was deferred Friday afternoon by a House-Senate conference committee.
The legislation would’ve legalized online sports betting in the state and taxed it at 10%.
“It’s very hard to get a compromise,” said Rep. Greggor Ilagan, a Puna Democrat who was the House chair for the committee. “At this point, we have a House and Senate disagreement. What we can do is work on this so we can meet the deadlines and get through a better bill next Legislative session.”
“Fine with me,” replied Sen. Lynn DeCoite, a Democrat representing Maui, Molokai and Lanai, and the Senate chair for the committee.
With that, Ilagan tabled the measure until next year.
The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Daniel Holt, an Oahu Democrat with Rep. Chris Todd, a Hilo Democrat as a co-sponsor was supported by several labor unions, online sports wagering services DraftKings and BetMGM, and the trade organization Sports Betting Alliance.
It was opposed by the state Office of the Attorney General, the Honolulu Police Department and Boyd Gaming, which operates 28 casinos in 11 states, and also owns and operates Vacations Hawaii, which — in its words — “has served over 1.5 million Hawaii residents with convenient and affordable direct flights to Las Vegas since 1996.”
