The House on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of passing a controversial measure to legalize online sports betting.

Gambling on sports in Hawaii is already legal. However, there is no legal avenue for placing bets with a sportsbook or online. To date, 38 states have legalized some form of online sports betting, which often involves placing bet on apps through a person’s smartphone.

The 35-to-15 vote on House Bill 1308 marked the furthest that a gambling proposal has made it in the Legislature in at least the last decade.

The bill would legalize online sports betting applications in the state. The measure would allow for up to four operators to become licensed and operate in Hawaii.

The ease with which problem gamblers could access betting applications drew opposition from some lawmakers.

Rep. Andrew Garrett said he had a friend with a gambling addicition who fell into financial ruin because of it.

“I wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone,” he said.

Proponents argued that gambling addiction exists in Hawaii even without a legal form of gambling. HB 1308 would allocate a portion of tax revenues to treat gambling addiction.

Hawaii’s current laws “have not stopped thousands of residents from participating in online sports betting through offshore and illegal platforms,” Rep. Dan Holt said. “The reality is that sports wagering is already happening.”

Experts have warned that sports betting has not created a windfall in states that have passed similar measures.

Representatives of the sports betting industry previously told lawmakers that the tax on revenues generated in Hawaii could result in about $10 million to $20 million in additional revenue for the state each year.

“Do we need that money to fix our roads?” Rep. David Alcos said. “Maybe taking care of families is a better choice.”

The state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs would be tasked with regulating the industry. But Director Nadine Ando told lawmakers that the $200,000 a year that would be allocated to the department through licensing fees, as a previous draft of the bill called for, wouldn’t be enough to pay for a new gambling enforcement division.

Ando noted that other states that regulate sports betting often already had gaming commissions to oversee all gambling in the state. Some have up to 400 full-time employees.

“It’s monumental, what would need to be done in order to set this up to regulate this industry,” Ando told the House Finance Committee on Feb. 24.

The measure that passed the House on Tuesday leaves the amount that each operator would need to pay in fees blank.

Like the House, the Senate is also exploring legalizing gambling. While it shelved a bill earlier this year to allow for casinos on Oʻahu, on Tuesday senators gave the nod to establishing a tourism and gaming working group to study the idea of how gambling might create jobs, investment and tax revenue for the state.

The group would be housed within the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and could include representatives of Boyd Gaming Corp., DraftKings Inc. and MGM Resorts International. A report from the working group would be submitted just before the 2026 legislative session.

Civil Beat politics editor Chad Blair contributed to this report.