Hawaii Gov. Josh Green Monday told Hawaii News Now that “as long as there are some safeguards with gambling addiction services and so on, and if the legislature goes the full way and passes it, I’ll likely let it become law.”
An online sports betting bill is currently in conference committee. Lawmakers have until the end of Thursday to pass HB 1308 out of the legislature and send it to Green. The governor’s comments indicate that he may not sign the bill, but rather let a deadline pass that would allow the bill to become law without his signature.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee used the same strategy to allow sports betting to become legal in his state in 2019. That state was the first to legalize digital-only wagering with no in-person locations.
Green’s comments and suggestion that he won’t sign or veto point to him trying to straddle a political fence. Green received two donations from Boyd Gaming in 2024. The company offers package deals for travel from Hawaii to its Las Vegas properties. Boyd Gaming testified against Hawaii gambling expansion for the first time this year. It opposes legal online betting, but supports a casino study proposal.
Casino study bill also in play
HB 1308 would allow for at least four online sports betting platforms and no retail locations. The House passed the bill after removing a 10% tax rate and an application fee structure. It moved through the Senate without either until it was amended on the Senate floor to put back the 10% tax rate and a $250,000 application and renewal fee. The House rejected the amended bill and it was sent to a conference committee.
Lynn DeCoite, Dru Kanuha, and Jarrett Keohokalole are the Senate conferees, according to the Hawaii legislature website. As of Wednesday morning, no House conferees had been named. DeCoite is listed as the chair.
Any non-fiscal bill in Hawaii must pass out of the legislature by the end of Thursday. The session ends May 2.
According to the Hawaii News Now report, a recent survey showed that two-thirds of those polled support legal sports betting in Hawaii. It also showed a shift in how people think about bringing casinos to the island state.
“The world is changing a lot and what people said in the survey is if you spend the revenue in a good place like Hawaiian homelands housing or housing for the workforce, a lot of people supported it,” Green said.
The House Monday passed out an amended version of SCR 121, which would create a casino study committee. But the Senate Tuesday rejected the amended legislation.
