Strict Regulation, High Taxes: How Would A Casino Work In Hawaii? …The state could take a cue from the mainland and pair a limited number of gambling licenses with high tax rates on casino operators.
Hawaii has considered many gambling proposals over the last three decades, ranging from a lottery to floating casinos in Honolulu Harbor. The Legislature also weighed legalizing gambling on cruise ships and betting on horses at a 20,000 seat racetrack.
All came with the promise of lucrative revenues for their operators and a windfall of cash for the state.
The Legislature has ordered studies on all those forms of gambling. The state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism in 1995 estimated that shipboard gaming could generate between $47 million and $104 million in tax revenues for the state.
For horse racing, the department extolled the immediate benefits for the construction industry should Hawaii decide to build a racetrack.
