Hawaii 2022 Regular Session

Hawaii Senate Bill SB2608 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	THE SENATE S.B. NO. 2608 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO GAMBLING. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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3	3	THE SENATE S.B. NO. 2608
4	4	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
5	5	STATE OF HAWAII
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7	7	THE SENATE
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9	9	S.B. NO.
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11	11	2608
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13	13	THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
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17	17	STATE OF HAWAII
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31	31	A BILL FOR AN ACT
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37	37	RELATING TO GAMBLING.
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43	43	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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47	47	Section 1. The legislature finds that gambling is now legal in forty-eight out of fifty states. For the people of Hawaii, gambling is as popular as it is in the rest of the country, but it remains illegal within its borders. With no local venues or tax for gambling, Hawaii remains a target market for a growing number of jurisdictions where gambling is legal. Hawaii residents generate hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps billions, in economic activity in other jurisdictions related to gambling and in return, Hawaii receives no benefit. Hawaii residents take an estimated five hundred thousand trips to Las Vegas and other gambling destinations each year, with many residents making multiple trips per year. In 2011, it was reported that Boyd Gaming, a Nevada-based gaming corporation, earns about $600,000,000 from Hawaii annually. In 2021, the chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming disclosed on an investor call that the company relies heavily on gamblers coming from Hawaii. Gaming revenues for Boyd Gaming from downtown Las Vegas, where locals often visit, declined sixty-three per cent to $257,700,000 as a result of coronavirus disease 2019 travel restrictions. A longtime lobbyist for gambling interests in Hawaii testified to the house of representatives committee on tourism in 2012 that the "prohibition of that which is legal nearly everywhere else costs Hawaii $1,000,000,000 each year in outgoing dollars and returns none". Despite its prohibition, Hawaii carries an economic burden from gambling. A 2009 study by the National Council on Problem Gambling estimated that the social costs of gambling addiction in Hawaii from twenty thousand problem gamblers and ten thousand pathological gamblers was $26,300,000; however, no public funding was provided for gambling treatment and prevention. The Honolulu police department reported fifty-one arrests in 2020 and thirty-four arrests in 2019 for gambling offenses, and there are approximately seventy to one hundred illegal gambling rooms on Oahu alone. Legislation introduced in the 2021 legislative session proposed to authorize limited casino gambling in the form of a single integrated resort property on Hawaiian home lands designated for commercial use on the island of Oahu excluding lands west of Ko Olina to address historic funding shortfalls to the department of Hawaiian home lands. With over twenty-eight thousand native Hawaiians awaiting homestead leases, the department of Hawaiian home lands struggles to develop land and lots. Current costs for infrastructure development, borne by the department of Hawaiian home lands, are in excess of $150,000 per lot. To fulfill the needs of the current waitlist, the department of Hawaiian home lands requires over $6,000,000,000 for infrastructure costs alone to serve its beneficiaries. This significant sum is separate and apart from costs for maintenance of existing lessee community housing for nearly ten thousand beneficiaries, upkeep of several utility systems, and other costs. Over the last decade, the legislature has funded the department of Hawaiian home lands at levels higher than in prior years, which has provided increased opportunity for the department of Hawaiian home lands to expand its reach. However, even by conservative estimates, it will take the department of Hawaiian home lands at least another hundred years to meet the needs of its beneficiaries at current funding levels. In response to this legislative proposal, the Hawaii state commission on the status of women released a gender impact statement in February 2021 titled, "Gambling With Women's Safety: A Feminist Assessment of Proposed Resort-Casino", which essentially concluded that gambling is a public health issue that is tied to significant community harm and linked to sex trafficking and other gender-based violence. The purpose of this Act is to require the department of Hawaiian home lands to study the feasibility and revenue to be generated by limited gaming and assessing the potential public health and safety concerns. SECTION 2. The department of Hawaiian home lands shall conduct a feasibility study on the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling. The department shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023. SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the feasibility study on the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of Hawaiian home lands for the purposes of this Act. SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022. INTRODUCED BY: _____________________________
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49	49	Section 1. The legislature finds that gambling is now legal in forty-eight out of fifty states. For the people of Hawaii, gambling is as popular as it is in the rest of the country, but it remains illegal within its borders. With no local venues or tax for gambling, Hawaii remains a target market for a growing number of jurisdictions where gambling is legal. Hawaii residents generate hundreds of millions of dollars, perhaps billions, in economic activity in other jurisdictions related to gambling and in return, Hawaii receives no benefit.
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51	51	Hawaii residents take an estimated five hundred thousand trips to Las Vegas and other gambling destinations each year, with many residents making multiple trips per year. In 2011, it was reported that Boyd Gaming, a Nevada-based gaming corporation, earns about $600,000,000 from Hawaii annually. In 2021, the chief executive officer of Boyd Gaming disclosed on an investor call that the company relies heavily on gamblers coming from Hawaii. Gaming revenues for Boyd Gaming from downtown Las Vegas, where locals often visit, declined sixty-three per cent to $257,700,000 as a result of coronavirus disease 2019 travel restrictions. A longtime lobbyist for gambling interests in Hawaii testified to the house of representatives committee on tourism in 2012 that the "prohibition of that which is legal nearly everywhere else costs Hawaii $1,000,000,000 each year in outgoing dollars and returns none".
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53	53	Despite its prohibition, Hawaii carries an economic burden from gambling. A 2009 study by the National Council on Problem Gambling estimated that the social costs of gambling addiction in Hawaii from twenty thousand problem gamblers and ten thousand pathological gamblers was $26,300,000; however, no public funding was provided for gambling treatment and prevention. The Honolulu police department reported fifty-one arrests in 2020 and thirty-four arrests in 2019 for gambling offenses, and there are approximately seventy to one hundred illegal gambling rooms on Oahu alone.
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55	55	Legislation introduced in the 2021 legislative session proposed to authorize limited casino gambling in the form of a single integrated resort property on Hawaiian home lands designated for commercial use on the island of Oahu excluding lands west of Ko Olina to address historic funding shortfalls to the department of Hawaiian home lands.
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57	57	With over twenty-eight thousand native Hawaiians awaiting homestead leases, the department of Hawaiian home lands struggles to develop land and lots. Current costs for infrastructure development, borne by the department of Hawaiian home lands, are in excess of $150,000 per lot. To fulfill the needs of the current waitlist, the department of Hawaiian home lands requires over $6,000,000,000 for infrastructure costs alone to serve its beneficiaries. This significant sum is separate and apart from costs for maintenance of existing lessee community housing for nearly ten thousand beneficiaries, upkeep of several utility systems, and other costs.
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59	59	Over the last decade, the legislature has funded the department of Hawaiian home lands at levels higher than in prior years, which has provided increased opportunity for the department of Hawaiian home lands to expand its reach. However, even by conservative estimates, it will take the department of Hawaiian home lands at least another hundred years to meet the needs of its beneficiaries at current funding levels.
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61	61	In response to this legislative proposal, the Hawaii state commission on the status of women released a gender impact statement in February 2021 titled, "Gambling With Women's Safety: A Feminist Assessment of Proposed Resort-Casino", which essentially concluded that gambling is a public health issue that is tied to significant community harm and linked to sex trafficking and other gender-based violence.
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63	63	The purpose of this Act is to require the department of Hawaiian home lands to study the feasibility and revenue to be generated by limited gaming and assessing the potential public health and safety concerns.
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65	65	SECTION 2. The department of Hawaiian home lands shall conduct a feasibility study on the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling.
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67	67	The department shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023.
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69	69	SECTION 3. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $500,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the feasibility study on the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling.
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71	71	The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of Hawaiian home lands for the purposes of this Act.
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73	73	SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.
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77	77	INTRODUCED BY: _____________________________
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79	79	INTRODUCED BY:
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81	81	_____________________________
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87	87	Report Title: Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Gambling; Feasibility Study; Appropriation Description: Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to conduct a feasibility study of the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling. Makes an appropriation. The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
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93	93	Report Title:
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95	95	Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; Gambling; Feasibility Study; Appropriation
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99	99	Description:
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101	101	Requires the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to conduct a feasibility study of the potential revenue to be generated by limited gaming in the State and the potential public health and safety impacts of casino gambling. Makes an appropriation.
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109	109	The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.