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Gambling: Casino gambling may be on the table once again at the Legislature, this time to pay for free, private, long-term-care insurance for Hawaii residents.
Way to pay for
long-term care?
House Speaker Calvin Say says
money must be found to care
for elderly peopleBy Pat Omandam
Star-BulletinWithin 10 years, a third of the state's population will be composed of retirees, House Speaker Calvin Say wants lawmakers to consider ways to offer the insurance for free.
Say (D, Palolo) said he wants any gaming legislation introduced in the 2001 session tied to financing of long-term-care insurance to address Hawaii's aging population.
"The whole point is to have the discussion on long-term care," Say said yesterday.
"Once you can see the problem, how do you folks want to address it? Maybe not this year, maybe not next year, maybe not the following year, but it's coming."
Under Say's proposal, Hawaii residents could buy long-term-care insurance for a fixed monthly fee. That fee would be refunded entirely by the state as a tax credit or tax refund on annual state taxes.
The state would pay for that credit by using the proceeds from land-based casinos licensed in each of Hawaii's four counties.
The operators of the four gaming licenses would pay the state a percentage of their annual gross revenue. Interest from that revenue would go into a trust fund to be used by the state to finance the insurance tax credit.
The minimum bidding for these four gambling licenses could be $100 million, guaranteeing millions of dollars in revenue for the state, Say said.
Say said he hasn't discussed the proposal with the House majority caucus, which last year shot down a bill by Rep. Jerry Chang (D, Hilo) for shipboard gambling that dedicated nearly all the revenues to education.
The speaker admitted he's already received negative calls about the proposal but said there needs to be a way to finance long-term-care insurance.
"People are not able to take care of themselves, and all they're going to do is go on the other side of the state coffers which would be Medicaid," he said.
"The best approach all these years has been to draw down on your assets, pass it down to the kids and qualify for Medicaid. But even Medicaid today, there's a waiting list."
Say said the majority caucus will not introduce any gambling bills this year, but individual lawmakers may do so. He said the House majority will decide if gaming proceeds could also be used for education.
Outgoing House Majority Leader Ed Case (D, Manoa) had warned that the Legislature may turn to legalized gambling this year to raise state revenue rather than to pass civil-service reform and privatization to reduce the size and cost of government operations.
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