By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

Amid more than 250 bills just passed by the state Legislature and poised to become Hawaii law, two stand out for their far-reaching potential to seed needed green shoots in the name of environmental stewardship. Senate Bill 1396 creates a climate “green fee” — finally — while SB 897 will help Hawaii’s major power utility, Hawaiian Electric Co., stay solvent and push ahead on crucial improvements for wildfire and disaster prevention. Both measures, though, come with caveats that will require the public, administrators and regulators to stay sharp so these prime opportunities aren’t squandered.

Under SB 1396, a 0.75% increase to the 10.25% statewide transient accommodations tax (TAT) on hotel rooms and short-term rentals will pay into a new fund to help the state respond to climate change and prevent wildfire spread; also, a new 11% TAT will be imposed on cruise ships docking in Hawaii.

By Chad Blair, Ashley Mizuo, Neal Milner, and Dan Nakaso for PBS Hawaiʻi

State lawmakers entered the 2025 session facing chronic problems like the lack of affordable housing, homelessness and decaying infrastructure. Added to the list were bills to curb illegal fireworks, stabilize the home insurance market and allow sports betting. Join the conversation as we discuss which bills passed and which ones died Thursday May 8th at 7:30pm Insights on PBS Hawaiʻi.

By Dana Drugmand for One Earth Now

Furthermore, Hawaii will now be requiring its visitors and vacationers to help contribute to climate mitigation and environmental sustainability initiatives through a first-of-its-kind “green fee” applied to lodging and cruise fares. The Hawaii legislature has just passed a bill, championed by Gov. Green, that will raise the existing transient accommodations tax rate in the state by 0.75% for the purpose of generating additional revenue to go towards climate resiliency efforts such as shoreline protection and reducing wildfire risk.

“Given the devastation we saw on Maui in August of 2023, this measure is crucial because it will help us to deal with wildfire risk resulting from the climate change crisis,” Green said in a statement. “It is foundational to our ability to provide a safe and secure Hawai‘i for our children, our residents, our visitors and the environment.”

By Guardian Staff and Agency

Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis.

Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, supports the creation of the so-called “green fee”, and is expected to sign it.

“This legislation, which I intend to sign, is the first of its kind in the nation and represents a generational commitment to protect our ‘āina [land],” Green said in a statement. “Hawai‘i is truly setting a new standard to address the climate crisis.”

By Ashley Mizuo for Hawaiʻi Public Radio

Bills are on their way to the governor, and state lawmakers are already looking into the future.

The legislative session wrapped up Friday with lawmakers passing the country’s first Green Fee — a tax on tourists to support the climate.

It raises the state’s tax on hotels by 0.75 of a percentage point to 11%. It also applies that 11% tax on cruise ships docking in Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi’s four counties separately each charge a 3% lodging tax.

By Climate Advisory Team

With the conclusion of Hawaiʻi’s 2025 legislative session, the Climate Advisory Team celebrates the Legislature’s passage of important bills that strengthen our state’s disaster resilience and climate change mitigation efforts. These bills now head to Governor Josh Green, M.D., to be signed into law. 

Together, these measures represent a historic investment to protect Hawaiʻi’s people, environment, and economy from the impacts of a changing climate and support the state’s ongoing commitment to increase disaster resilience in the wake of the tragic 2023 Maui wildfires.

Mahalo to our state legislators and Governor Green for your commitment to delivering meaningful disaster resilience legislation this year. The Climate Advisory Team also thanks the many partners in advocacy and community members who submitted testimony in support of these bills – this legislation would not have been possible without you.

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

Among the Legislature’s most notable swings this year was the historic new visitor-paid “green fee,” which aims to offset some of the impact tourists have on Hawaiʻi’s environment plus address a host of local climate change concerns. 

By Honolulu Star-Advertiser Editorial Board

The Legislature has completed another rushed round of lawmaking, but there’s a lingering lack of certainty that the job is done. Senate President Ron Kouchi characterized his chamber’s work as “I” for incomplete, acknowledging a widespread expectation that federal funding cutbacks, tariffs’ whip-sawing effects on the global economy and international trade will disrupt budget expectations and lead to a special session later this year to balance things out.

Under the layer of fed-induced turbulence, however, work got done. Among bills passed by the Leg: authorization for an increase to the hotel room tax; approval for continued kauhale (tiny home community) development; money to move ahead with planning for the Oahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC); and a higher cigarette tax for the benefit of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. These bills provide support for absolutely essential endeavors within our state, though future refinements may be necessary.

By Richard Borreca Special to the Star-Advertiser

For Green, however, the ability to convincingly express that need for a tax increase of nearly 1% for climate mitigations was a powerful triumph.

More money is a constant plea of past governors, going back to Jack Burns.

As Green said last week in comments in a news article written about his tax increase victory, “this sets Hawaii apart in a super positive way.”

According to the reports, the tax increase could raise $100 million a year with the new money going “to prepare for impending natural disasters facing Hawaii.”

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.

By HI Now Staff

HONOLULU (HI Now) - Hawaiʻi is planning to invest in a safer, more resilient future. A bill, SB1396, has passed through conference committee and heads to the House and Senate floors for its final vote tomorrow, May 2. The measure would provide funding to pay for environmental and infrastructure projects that make Hawaiʻi more resilient to disasters like hurricanes and wildfires.

Kāwika Riley, a member of the Hawaiʻi Climate Advisory Team, joined HI Now Daily to talk about what passage of this bill will mean for our state. He shared that the money will come from a small increase in the tax visitors pay, meaning those who enjoy Hawaiʻi’s beauty and natural resources will help care for it, too. The funds would support important efforts like clearing dry brush to reduce wildfire risks, managing coastal erosion, and upgrading critical infrastructure.

This historic step will help ensure Hawaiʻi’s communities are better prepared for disasters, and our state remains a desirable place for visitors to travel to for generations to come.

By Andrew Gomes and Dan Nakaso for Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Another bill passed Wednesday would increase and expand the state’s hotel room tax, and direct some of the additional revenue to equally pay for natural resource management, climate-related disaster mitigation and mitigating tourism impacts on the natural environment.

“We know that our environment is our economy,” said Nakamura (D, Hanalei-Princeville-Kapaa).

By Audrey McAvoy for The Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — In a first-of-its kind move, Hawaii lawmakers are ready to hike a tax imposed on travelers staying in hotels, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations and earmark the new money for programs to cope with a warming planet.

State leaders say they’ll use the funds for projects like replenishing sand on eroding beaches, helping homeowners install hurricane clips on their roofs and removing invasive grasses like those that fueled the deadly wildfire that destroyed Lahaina two years ago.

A bill scheduled for House and Senate votes on Wednesday would add an additional 0.75% to the daily room rate tax starting Jan. 1. It’s all but certain to pass given Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers and party leaders have agreed on the measure. Gov. Josh Green has said he would sign it into law.

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.