The Sunshine Blog: Covering Up Pay-To-Play Politics

Written By Olivia Cropper

By The Sunshine Blog for Honolulu Civil Beat

Getting the green light: Could this be the session that Hawaiʻi lawmakers enact some sort of visitor-impact fee to help pay for the costs of climate change on our precious ʻāina? On Thursday, two House committees approved bills to do exactly that. But session is far from over, and “green fees” died the past two sessions.

Senate Bill 1396, which is one of the green fee bills proposed by Gov. Josh Green’s Climate Advisory Team, would assess the transient accommodations tax on cruise ship cabins. It would be based on the total time the cruise ship is docked at any port in the state.

Click here to read the full story in March 23, 2025 Honolulu Civil Beat.

Olivia Cropper
Previous

Status Update on Climate Advisory Team Priority Legislation
Next

Lawmakers embrace tourist tax increase, divided over where the money would go