Gov. Green lauds passage of climate impact legislation

Gov. Josh Green, M.D., heralded the Legislature’s passage of SB1396, creating the climate impact fee, or “green fee,” to help the islands to mitigate the impacts of climate change and the roughly 10 million visitors welcomed to Hawaiʻi each year.
 
“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. Hawai‘i is truly setting a new standard to address the climate crisis, and I want to thank lawmakers for their unrelenting work these past two years in bringing this to fruition,” said Green.
 
SB1396 will increase the state’s portion of the Transient Accommodation Tax (TAT) collections from 10.25% to 11%. Additionally, all four counties have exercised their legislated authority to apply an additional TAT of up to 3% and have adopted the full amount. The net result with this 0.75% increase is a TAT of 14% statewide. General Excise Tax is applied on top of room rates. It is estimated the fee will raise $100 million annually to provide disaster mitigation for the Aloha State.
 
“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. It is foundational to our ability to provide a safe and secure Hawai‘i for our children, our residents, our visitors and the environment,” Green said.
 
The governor has until July 9, 2025, to sign the bill into law. He has repeatedly indicated his intention to do so, as it has been a priority piece of legislation for his administration.