Legislative session ends with hotel, cruise ship room tax increase to aid Hawaii’s climate fight

By Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Tourists — and local residents — who book hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins will begin providing $90 million to $100 million annually in new funding for Hawaii to adapt to climate change and prevent future wildfires, under legislation that Gov. Josh Green plans to sign into law.

The proposed increase in Hawaii’s so-called hotel room tax would begin on Jan. 1 after it passed out of the Legislature on Friday, the final day of the 2025 legislative session.

It follows the Aug. 8, 2023, Maui wildfires that killed 102 people. But Green has been pushing legislators to come up with a new source of funding to combat climate change since his first legislative session as governor three years ago.

Click here to read the full story in the May 4 Honolulu Star-Advertiser.