Posted on 06/16/2025 7:34:10 AM PDT by davikkm
The ink is dry. Hawaii has officially become the first state in the nation to impose a climate tax. It’s called the Green Fee. The name sounds harmless. The impact is anything but.
Senate Bill 1396 is now law. It tacks on a 0.75% increase to the Transient Accommodations Tax. That means every hotel stay, every short-term rental, every cruise ship docking in the islands will now carry a new surcharge. The state expects this to rake in $100 million annually.
This isn’t a symbolic gesture. It’s a full-scale revenue engine. The money will be funneled into climate resilience projects. Think wildfire prevention, coral reef restoration, flood mitigation, and invasive species removal. The state says it’s about protecting the land. But the math tells a different story.
(Excerpt) Read more at citizenwatchreport.com ...
Was in the Virgin Islands in March. Very welcoming friendly people!
we spent most of our time on Kauai ... much less crowded, more varied terrain ...
Like CaCaLand’s bullet train, this is all about setting up a bag of dosh that will ALL go the politicos to finance campaigns.
Every damned penny.
My wife and I own 5 acres and two houses in very rural Hawaii. I, not my wife am a legal resident of WA state
she is a legal resident of Hawaii. This done for taxes.
Hawaii tourism is what I would call a “Criminal Racket”. I give advice to friends and neighbors on where to vacation in Hawaii and Honolulu/Oahu is generally not on that list. Pearl harbor is on the list of places to visit, (just make it self guided). Hawaii is a beautiful place, with warm people. Me having grown up in the areas south east of Los Angeles I can appreciate how wonderful our Hawaii tourist traps appear to be.
However a few nights and days on Molokai are far closer to real Hawaii than the “Sophistication(and noise) of Oahu”. Don’t take my word for it there are some very old school Hawaii plantation beach cottages on Molokai that have a three to four year wait list. They don’t advertise.
Real Hawaii is full of places like that. Unsophisticated, plain, 1940s lifestyle, quiet and peaceful. Local store is closed on Sundays and around 8 PM week nights.
My island “The Big Island” isn’t quite that antiquated, we do have a Costco but it is over 50 miles away. Paniolo
(Hawaiian cowboys) dominates our lifestyles.
Where else is “Surf and Turf”, a description of 1 inch thick grass fed sirloin steaks, fresh Ahi(tuna) and Poi, considered a normal meal? Don’t forget the beer!
Or the most authentic Chinese food you’ll ever eat outside of China.
So let the tourist industry ruin Maui and Ohau. Good place for them.
But we’ll keep the rest of the islands as Hawaiian in the modern world as we can.
I lived in Hawaii a couple of years. I witnessed the construction of a $5,000,000 outdoor bus stop complete with large commercial air conditioners and a $1,000,000 pedestrian bridge that was not connected to any walkway. It just sat there on the side of a highway.
Different pricing is common all around the world.
I remember in Croatia, there were rates for different countries, based on you ability to pay!
I was able to talk in “cheap language” and got pretty good deals. A lot better, than if you speak German or English!
But, I am sure, the rates for locals were even better!
My friend served in Japan and learn some Japanese, enough to see the prices. Posted prices in Japanese characters were a lot cheaper than the ones posted in English.
So he always asked and got the Japanese price!
Yes. Why in post I used “Example:” 🏄
It’s bad. This means NY can tax anyone coming to the state from another state for climate reasons. This will go to SCOTUS and Hawaii will lose.
There, I fixed it.
Easiest and safest tax to pass and increase is the ones that visitors pay..
Don’t ever look are your hotel bill or car rental bill closely… you’ll soon realize wherever you are visiting doesn’t really think of you as anything more than a deep pocket piggy bank
Keep over taxing the tourist and you’ll get less.
In the early 90s NYC raised their occupancy taxes on hotel rooms so high conventions bailed out in droves.
Good news for our hotel and others in Nashville. 35 years later and Nashville is still booming.
DeSantis wants to do the same as NY now in Fla. He wants to lower or eliminate property taxes by raising tourism taxes. Bad idea.
You are correct. Inter island flight for the non kamaaina used to be outrages also. I do not know if this is still the case. All my Hawaii family now just live on Maui.
“The money will be funneled into climate resilience projects.”
All of which will be run by the friends, family and major donors of the Dem politicians administering it.
Thanks for confirming what I’ve heard. If you skip Oahu and Maui, I’ve heard there are friendly Hawaiians as well.
They live off the teet of tourism so this will only hurt revenues. So where do they expect to get this money from tourists? MORE Hotel taxes. Have you seen the price of a room in most cities, not to mention Hawaii. $300-$500, so a week is 3 grand? pretty expensive.
Tourists will go elsewhere. Besides, it's a killer flight from the East Coast.
News Flash; “Hawaii in Bankruptcy ,tourists are going Elsewhere” In a related story, “federal funds denied to Hawaii.”
Hawaii can collect from all the Japanese and Chinese visitors then.
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