By Daryl Huff for Hawaiʻi News Now

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Gov. Josh Green is celebrating lawmakers’ decision to increase tourist taxes and dedicate the new money to what they call Hawaii’s climate emergency.

Making it happen required compromise and resisting a threat from the cruise ship industry.

Green first called for a “green fee” on tourists during his campaign three years ago.

Now he says there will be hundreds of millions for climate-related projects without driving visitors away.

By Ashley Mizuo, Mark Ladao for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

While lawmakers are considering many bills ahead of the end of the 2025 session on Friday, here at Hawaiʻi Public Radio, we’ve narrowed down the topics to the top four we’re paying close attention to.

All of these measures have made it through the conference committee, one of the last steps of the legislative process, and many will be voted on for a final time by both the House and Senate on Wednesday.

And while the Legislature will adjourn at the end of the week, lawmakers are blocking off days for potential special sessions in the interim to address federal funding impacts.

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

In a major win for conservationists, Hawaiʻi is poised after years of debate to finally approve a so-called “green fee,” which would be paid mostly by visitors to help shield the island state from environmental harm and climate change.

House and Senate members on Friday approved the bill to create that fee during the last day of their pivotal conference hearings, in which the two chambers hash out their differences on bills behind closed doors and try to reach consensus.

A final vote to send the green fee measure to Gov. Josh Green, who strongly supports it, is expected next week.

“It’s a historic piece of legislation,” Green said Friday. “No other state has done something of this magnitude to have an impact fee that goes directly to deal with climate change.”

By Charles “Chip” Fletcher for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

The climate crisis is no longer a distant concern — it’s here, now, reshaping daily life across Hawaii. In 2024, the islands endured record-breaking heat, persistent drought, stronger storms and rising seas. These events are not anomalies; they are part of a pattern that signals an escalating emergency. Without bold and immediate investment in climate resilience, Hawaii’s economy, environment, public health and cultural heritage face mounting threats.

By Emma Caires for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Environmental groups are urging lawmakers to pass a measure that would increase taxes on tourists and fund climate initiatives.

Two bills still alive this legislative session, SB1396 and HB504, consider raising the 10.25% transient accommodations tax by 1 percentage point.

HB504 would also charge cruise ships $20 per passenger when they dock in Hawaiʻi. Cruise ships do not currently pay any transient accommodations tax.

The Care for Āina Now Coalition hopes this increase will help offset the reported $1.4 billion needed to fight climate change over the next five years.

By Climate Advisory Team

On April 16, the Climate Advisory Team (CAT) hosted a webinar about legislative progress on key climate and disaster resilience bills. The CAT members were joined by Will Kane, Senior Advisor to Governor Josh Green, M.D., who shared information about the legislative process and important bills that advance disaster resilience. 

By Caitlin Thompson for Honolulu Civil Beat

In the year following the devastating fires on Maui, the island’s residents became increasingly worried about the impacts of climate change.

More than three-quarters of Maui residents said they were concerned about global warming in 2024, according to a national climate survey conducted annually by Yale University — a six percentage point increase from 2022.

Despite the heightened concern, data shows a disconnect statewide between awareness of climate change and people’s perception that it will touch their lives directly. 

By Climate Advisory Team

The Climate Advisory Team (CAT) invites you to a webinar about legislative progress on key climate and disaster resilience bills on Wednesday, April 16 at 10:00 a.m. CAT members, joined by Will Kane, Senior Advisor to Governor Josh Green, will provide an update on legislation that addresses the Climate Advisory Team’s policy recommendations. 

During this webinar, the CAT will also share information from the actuarial analysis commissioned by the CAT and how individuals and organizations can participate in the remainder of the legislative session. Following the presentation, attendees can ask questions during a Q&A session with the team. Pre-registration is now open, and a recording of the webinar will be available on the CAT website following the event.

By Climate Advisory Team

Hawaiʻi’s most socially vulnerable communities live in areas where the risks of wildfires and floods are among the highest in the state, according to data analysis commissioned by the Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team. The analysis was conducted by Guy Carpenter, a global risk and reinsurance firm, and measures how susceptible communities are to the adverse impacts of natural disasters based on their socioeconomic status, household characteristics and other key indicators, using FEMA’s National Risk Index. 

Socially vulnerable communities face higher rates of poverty and high housing cost burdens, have more households with elderly people, children or people living with disabilities, and are from racial or ethnic minority groups, among other factors. These communities live closest to the edge on a daily basis and are most at risk of being pushed out of Hawaiʻi.

The findings reveal that several vulnerable communities live in areas that face significant disaster risks, specifically risks of wildfires and floods:

By Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Tourists would collectively pay millions of dollars more each year to stay in Hawaii hotels and on cruise ships to help the state address climate change and reduce the risk of future wildfires under a bill approved Tuesday by the full House.

The latest version of Senate Bill 1396 offers no specific recommendation for how much Hawaii’s transient accommodations tax would raise, an issue that likely will be resolved in a joint House- Senate conference committee in the final days of the legislative session before its scheduled adjournment May 2.

But each 1% increase in the room tax for hotel nights has been projected to generate another $80 million annually, with another $24 million coming from passenger stays aboard cruise ships.

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

Gov. Josh Green has asked the state Legislature to approve three methods to fund state action to address environmental stressors that include overtourism, global warming and rising seas.

» The first, via Senate Bill 1395, has been deferred (deep-sixed) by the House Water and Land Committee. It would "sweep," or divert, all interest earned from the state's rainy day fund - about $60 million annually — to the general fund, and as amended, required the governor to request funding for specific projects to address climate change impacts each year. This solid proposal provides a direct and accessible source of funding for urgent needs, and should not be allowed to disappear from this year's legislative slate. It's now the responsibility of legislative leadership to include this provision in a living bill concerning environmental funding, and to ensure it becomes law.

By Climate Advisory Team

Mahalo nui to those who have attended hearings and submitted testimony in support of Climate Advisory Team priority bills this legislative session. Your time, effort and investment in supporting these bills are greatly appreciated, and we encourage you to continue using your voice. Five CAT priority bills are still alive this legislative session and need your support:

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.

By Daryl Huff for Hawaiʻi News Now

The governor’s proposal to increase tourist taxes to pay for fire prevention and environmental projects is moving along at the Legislature.

But the worry about federal funding cuts could lead to the money being used for other things.

At this stage, lawmakers seem ready to raise the transient accommodations tax. The question is how will they spend the extra money.

By Ashley Mizuo for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Major initiatives that would have created a dedicated funding stream for climate resiliency are in jeopardy at the state Legislature.

Two House committees deferred Gov. Josh Green’s bill that would have used interest from the state’s $1.5 billion reserve fund for climate resiliency.

HPR’s Ashley Mizuo reports that uncertainty regarding federal funding is pushing lawmakers to make tough decisions.

By Climate Advisory Team

The Climate Advisory Team (CAT) has released an updated version of its policy paper on climate disaster resilience, recovery and funding. The following revisions were made:

By Ashley Mizuo for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

About $1.4 billion — that’s how much the state will need to address climate resiliency over the next five years, according to the governor’s Climate Action Team.

Three measures still alive at the Legislature would collect funds for climate resilience – two of which would again increase the tax levied on hotels.

“Climate disasters will happen in Hawaiʻi, will continue to happen, and they are increasingly going to cost us dearly,” said Denise Antolini, an environmental lawyer and member of the Gov. Josh Green’s Climate Action Team.

Antolini emphasized that it’s a crucial time to create and put money into the Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Special Fund.

By Chris Benjamin, Denise Antolini, Kāwika Riley, Gwen Yamamoto Lau

Hawaiʻi is at the forefront of the climate crisis. Rising sea levels and temperatures, stronger hurricanes and rainstorms, and more frequent wildfires threaten our people, homes, economy, and way of life.

Tragedies like the Lahaina wildfires make it clear that disasters are not hypothetical situations, and we must act now if we want a resilient Hawaiʻi for current and future generations.

The State Legislature is considering several bills designed to reduce disaster impacts, address systemic vulnerabilities, and protect our environment and communities.

The Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team, convened by Gov. Josh Green to research and develop community-informed policy solutions to increase disaster resilience, urges legislators to pass these bills this legislative session:

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

Hawaii, the time has come to get serious about funding state efforts for “climate mitigation and resiliency,” as the governor’s office terms it. The Legislature and governor’s office must cooperate to get a Climate Mitigation and Resiliency Special Fund up and running, and to fund it with all three of the proposals that are currently circulating: a hefty collection of interest earned on the state’s rainy day fund; an increase in the the state’s transient accommodations tax; and an admission charge for visitors at popular state attractions.

The state House has given a very preliminary approval to bills advancing two of these efforts, passing them through the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee on the way to a make-or-break slot on the House Finance agenda.

By Dan Nakaso for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Gov. Josh Green’s bills to fund Hawaii’s climate change response by increasing the state’s hotel room tax and dedicating all of the interest from the $1.5 billion rainy day fund were unanimously passed out of a House committee Tuesday, but with concerns that they need “a lot of work.”

“There’s a lot of work to be done on this and the subsequent bill,” said state Rep. Nicole Lowen, who chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, which passed House Bills 1076 and 1077 Tuesday.