History of Gambling - Casinos
in Hawaii
WASHINGTON -- Hawaii is one of only two states that does not permit any form of legalized gambling, and casino supporters and opponents agree the state's Legislature won't lift that prohibition this year.
But Hawaii's persistent economic doldrums and frequent trips by many of its residents to Las Vegas suggest to some casino backers the state may soon open its doors to gambling.
That would leave Utah as the only state untouched by the gambling expansion of the past decade.
The latest entity to eye the islands is Sun International, a South Africa-based resort company that last year backed out of a deal to buy the Desert Inn and now wants to build an $800 million hotel with 1,500 rooms and limited casino operations at Ko 'Olina in west Oahu.
Two months ago, Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano, a Democrat, toured Sun's Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, a property that is on the A-list of such pop culture icons as Michael Jordan. The governor said he made the trip not to play in its casino but to visit the resort's aquarium, which is advertised as the world's largest.
In March, Sun International canceled its $275 million deal to purchase the Desert Inn complex from Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
The move came as Sun Chairman Sol Kerzner attempted to take his company private, capitalizing on a steep decline in the gaming operator's stock price. The company's directors later rejected the privatization effort.
Cayetano told reporters in Honolulu last month he would be foolish to rule out a proposal that could produce millions of dollars in tax revenue for the state's schools.
But Tim Kelly, a former executive director of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, said gambling would taint the natural beauty and mystique of Hawaii.
"The Aloha spirit would be changed. Gambling would be the 500-pound gorilla in Hawaii," said Kelly, who participated in a recent panel discussion in Honolulu that was organized by the Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling.
Las Vegas is a popular vacation stop for Hawaii residents, especially its retirees, with an estimated 80 percent of the hotel stays at Boyd Gaming's downtown California hotel coming from Hawaiians.
The company, which also owns downtown's Main Street Station and Fremont, markets to islanders, operating seven weekly charter flights between the resort destinations, and gaming supporters argue the state could keep some of that money if it opened its own casino.
But Dot Bobilin of Honolulu, a retired social worker and educator who is president of the Hawaii Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, said that argument is part of the gaming industry's deceptive campaign to get a toehold in the state.
"They say all the money goes to Las Vegas because 40,000 people a month go there (from Hawaii). I think they go for other reasons (than gambling)," Bobilin said. "We have a unique ambience that we should be promoting, not trying to be like Las Vegas."
The proposed Sun resort-casino could become Hawaii's largest employer, producing 6,000 jobs, or 2,000 more than are produced by any other company in the state, according to Jim Boersema, treasurer of Hawaii Coalition for Economic Diversity. The coalition is a group funded in part by Sun International to buy advertising and build local support for the project.
While Las Vegas casinos usually derive about 70 percent of their revenue from gambling, the gaming share of the Sun Casino in Hawaii would be about 30 percent, Boersema said.
The largest Strip casino operators generate closer to 50 percent of their revenue from gambling, with the other half coming mostly from hotels, restaurants and entertainment.
Although the Hawaiian tourism industry had a record-breaking year in 2000, the state is still looking at budget deficits for the next two years. While the rest of the country boomed in the last decade, Hawaii struggled and its economy continues to be lethargic.
