The perpetual exercise in futility at the state Legislature is the effort to legalize gambling. It comes up session after session, a splashy idea that draws public attention and plenty of argument, then goes away to die.
This session is no different, with bills introduced for a trifecta of gambling concepts: lottery, casino, online betting on fantasy sports. Even those who’ve introduced them say the legislation has little chance of passing in an election year. Think about that: It means elected officials fear that voters won’t support them if they support gambling. Which translates to: It’s not what most people want.
So how about we give it a rest for a session, or two, or four? Certainly the Legislature’s time and brain power could be put to better use. We have a minimum wage to raise, affordable housing to fund, a stadium to build, illegal fireworks to stamp out. We need to strike a better balance between surging tourism and the protection of our natural resources. And that pandemic is still around.
This is not to say fighting the good fight over many years is a bad thing. Marriage equality, medical aid in dying — hard issues like these took a generation to come into law, and looked hopeless when first broached. It took persistence and some amount of fearlessness for lawmakers to stick with the battle.
In those cases, though, principles of civil rights were in the balance. In the case of gambling it’s fun and money. Not the same.
The pro arguments center on gambling’s magic pot of gold. Job possibilities, economic boost, more revenue to the government without increasing taxes. Interest in legalizing gambling ramps up when the state’s money prospects are down.
The con arguments center on the social costs — the potential of residents addicted to the dream of easy money, the crime that could accompany a casino culture, the weight of the bureaucracy needed to regulate a gambling industry. Plus, it’s clear Hawaii doesn’t need gambling as a tourism magnet. Current projections show us headed toward 10 million-plus visitors per year, a number that even the tourist industry says is unsustainable.
Hawaii residents clearly love to gamble, that’s why Las Vegas is the “ninth island,” so morality isn’t the sticking point. The idea of their money being spent at home instead of in Nevada is always attractive. On the other hand, under the status quo, Vegas handles the knotty problems. We just drop in when we feel lucky.
Hawaii and Utah are the only states that do not allow gambling in some form, indicating that it will get here some day. The risk is in doing it wrong, and that’s what our state must guard against.
Some gambling options seem to offer high reward for a good cause. In that category would be a state lottery, in which people voluntarily hand over cash, a few bucks at a time, in a game of chance that goes to fund public education. Also in that category might be a controversial proposal from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to establish a single Oahu casino on DHHL land, with proceeds to right a longstanding wrong — the state’s failure to deliver on a promise of delivering homesteads to Native Hawaiians.
Both concepts are pending this legislative session but unlikely to pass. Gambling here is going to have to wait until a time that community and political acceptance align, when a solid proposal is in hand that mitigates the negatives while offering a reasonable assessment of financial gain. That time is not now.
Now, the Legislature is likely to spend more time printing out copies of gambling bills than it will advancing them. May as well focus on something more worthwhile.
