One Step Closer to First Casino in Hawaii

In a nearly split vote of 5-4, the Hawaiian Homes Commission has approved a proposal to build a casino in Hawaii in the city of Kapolei. This proposal will now be presented as a bill to Hawaii Governor David Ige asking that the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands be allowed to build the casino on homestead lands.

Some members of the Commission were opposed to the proposal because they felt there was not enough information presented to evaluate the project. Also, these members felt the project proposal should have been first discussed with trust beneficiaries before it was presented by the department. Trust beneficiaries are at least 50 percent Hawaiian and, therefore, it was felt their input was important.

The Department of Home Lands manages a 203,000-acre land trust designed for homesteading for Native Hawaiians. If approved by the Governor, the department may then lease lands to build the casino in West Oahu. The bill would then move along with the Governor’s entire package of bills that he will be submitting to the legislature next year.

According to the Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair, William Aila, Jr., if the proposal is delayed and does not make it to the upcoming legislative session, in all likelihood, the bill will be doomed. The 31st legislature will convene on January 20, 2021.

The main impetus for the casino proposal is to raise funds as currently thousands of low-income Native Hawaiians are being left behind due to state government budget cuts stemming from effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vast funding is needed to get more Native Hawaiians onto homesteading lots of land.

Hawaii has had a long history of failed proposals, measures, and bills to promote gambling in any form, as it has been the general consensus that anything of this nature will eventually lead to higher crime within the state.