The law adds a 0.75% “Green Fee” to the existing transient-accommodations tax of 10.25% and imposes a levy on cruise-ship passengers docking in the islands.
Hawaii Governor Josh Green has signed SB 1396 into law, making Hawaii the first US state to require visitors to pay a lodging tax for climate change, effective 1 January 2026.
The law adds a 0.75% “Green Fee” to the existing transient-accommodations tax (TAT) of 10.25%.
The law also imposes a levy on cruise-ship passengers docking in the islands. Previously, TAT applied only to land accommodations.
The measure also addresses a key recommendation from the Climate Advisory Team, formed by the governor after the Maui wildfires. The Climate Advisory Team (CAT) was convened by Governor Green to develop community-informed policy recommendations that drove the state’s climate-related priorities for the 2025 legislative session. CAT was charged with developing policy recommendations to minimise the impacts of future climate-related disasters and to speed recovery from the physical and financial damage they cause.
Under the Act, the governor must request in the executive budget or supplemental budget that an amount of general funds that approximates the additional transient accommodations tax revenue generated by this Act be expended equally to advance certain climate change mitigation and tourism projects.
Additionally, SB 1396 also amends the allowable uses of the special land and development fund and the portion of the transient accommodations tax collections allocated to the special land and development fund.
