Senate agrees to House changes on gambling resolution, orders working group study

The Hawaii Senate moved to reconsider its previous disagreement with House amendments and agreed to the changes to Senate Concurrent Resolution 121, House Draft 1, giving 1‑day notice for final adoption and directing a working group to conduct a comprehensive examination of gambling policy.

Senator Wakai moved to reconsider and agree to the House amendments; the motion was seconded and carried. During discussion, Senator DeCoite said, “the subject of gambling raises a lot of passionate voices for and against it. The requirements set forth in this resolution for this working group is to perform a comprehensive examination of this issue. It is my hope that the report that will be delivered to the legislature will provide us with solid guidance on how we approach gaming legislation in the future.”

The motion carried and 1‑day notice was given for final adoption of SCR 121, HD 1. The Senate took the procedural step of reconsidering its prior disagreement to the House amendments and agreeing to those amendments, a common step to reconcile chamber differences before final passage.

No final read vote tally for the adoption was recorded in the transcript excerpt; the clerk announced that 1‑day notice would be given for final adoption. The Senate also set procedural deadlines later in the day related to conference committee reports and nonfiscal bill decking (see meeting announcements).