by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Thu May 1, 2025
Hawai’i lawmakers are considering a bill this Friday that would increase the daily room rate tax on all accommodations for travelers staying in the state to be used to combat the negative impacts of climate change throughout the islands.
According to the Associated Press, the bill will increase the daily room rate tax by 0.75 percent starting January 1, 2026. It would fund programs like helping homeowners install hurricane clips on their roofs, removing invasive grasses that can fuel wildfires and re-sanding eroding beaches.
The bill is scheduled for a vote in the state House and Senate on Friday and is expected to pass since the state’s Democratic supermajority created the measure. The governor, Josh Green, has said he will sign it into law if passed.
It may generate as much as $100 million in extra revenue.
“We had a $13 billion tragedy in Maui and we lost 102 people,” said Governor Green on the issue. “These kind of dollars will help us prevent that next disaster.”
Hawaii is one of the places with the highest taxes for tourists, with an already existing 10.25 percent tax on daily room rates, an extra 3 percent tax collected by the county, and a 4.712 percent general excise tax. That’s a tax rate of nearly 19 percent for a hotel room, vacation rental or other accommodation.
According to the advocacy group Care for ʻĀina Now, the state’s natural resources and biodiversity provide over $6 billion to the state’s economy every year. Still, there is a distinct lack of funding to sustain those resources over time, with an estimated $561 million gap in funding needs.
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