Hawaii Sports Betting Bill Dies In Conference Committee Near End Of 2025 Session
Hawaii will remain on the sidelines of legal gambling after a last-minute effort fell short in the 2025 legislative session.
The House and Senate both passed Rep. Daniel Holt’s House Bill 1308, which would have legalized Hawaii sports betting and fantasy sports contests. However, differences between the versions of the bills that the two chambers passed led to a conference committee to resolve the differences.
State lawmakers failed to reach a consensus on a final version of the bill by last Friday’s deadline, resulting in the bill dying just before the session’s end on May 2.
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Aloha means goodbye for now
Holt’s bill would have established a legal, regulated sports betting industry in Hawaii.
“We put our best effort forward; we got it very far this year, this deep into conference, but it seems as if we have not come to agreement on details: the tax amount, who would operate, would house the operation of the sports betting and give out the license and licensing fees,” Holt said.
HB 1308 originally had a 10% tax rate and a $250,000 licensing fee for approved qualified gaming entities. The House removed those stipulations in committee to keep discussions open-ended, and the Senate reinstated them before passing the bill.
“It is what it is, and we just got to work harder next year, try to answer the questions that the rest of the members and the public has and see if we can capture this tax revenue that we much need for our state,” Holt added.
A new precedent
As one of two states without any legal gambling, including a state lottery, Hawaii lawmakers faced an uphill battle, and the window to summit the mountain closed.
That said, HB 1308 set a new standard for Hawaii’s gambling prospects.
It received support from numerous lawmakers who previously opposed sports betting bills, including House Republican Minority Leader Lauren Matsumoto. Even more significantly, Gov. Josh Green stated multiple times that he would sign a sports betting bill into law that reached his desk with the proper safeguards in place.
Discussions about granting two 20-year retail casino licenses in Honolulu surfaced in 2025, as well. State senators killed that bill, SB 893, in February.
Gambling coming to Hawaii soon?
In addition to making headway on Hawaii sports betting, the 2025 legislative session further confirmed that its culture is changing regarding gambling.
Legislators succeeded in establishing a working group comprising law enforcement, government, tourism, and gambling industry experts to study the legalization of gambling in Hawaii. Supporters hope it will enable legislators to bring a better, more comprehensive solution to the table next year.
Despite changing her views to support HB 1308 earlier in the session, Matsumoto remained hesitant about a legal Hawaii gambling industry and said many of her constituents shared the same concerns.
“It’s more prudent for us to do the resolution and the study first than it is to just pass the bill,” said Matsumoto. “Once you have that toehold, that leads to the foothold that could lead to casinos here in Hawaii. So I think it’s important for us to tread cautiously because once you open that up, there’s no taking it back.”
