Hawaii Plans To Tax Tourists To Help Stop Climate Doom Or Something

Weird. I would have thought all the Warmists in Hawaii would be willing to pay more in taxes themselves, rather than hit up the folks who account for 22% of Hawaii’s GDP. Oh, and help drive construction and rentals

Hawaii plans to increase hotel tax to help it cope with climate change

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.

Officials estimate the increase would generate $100 million in new revenue annually.

Hitting up visitors is probably not the way to do this. Sure, it ends up being about $31 on average a day, but, that is money that cannot be spent on other things while on vacation. I bet that the citizens of the People’s Republik Of Hawaii wouldn’t want to pay $1 a day out of their own pockets

“We had a $13 billion tragedy in Maui and we lost 102 people. These kind of dollars will help us prevent that next disaster,” Green said in an interview.

Fleecing tourists who have to take long fossil fueled flights to keep your state going won’t fix the government being incompetent. It won’t clear the dead brush or stop falling power lines.

The governor has long said the 10 million visitors who come to Hawaii each year should help the state’s 1.4 million residents protect the environment.

Green believes travelers will be willing to pay the increased tax because doing so will enable Hawaii to “keep the beaches perfect” and preserve favorite spots like Maui’s road to Hana and the coastline along Oahu’s North Shore. After the Maui wildfire, Green said he heard from thousands of people across the country asking how they could help. This is a significant way they can, he said.

So, if he believes that why doesn’t he slap a tax on the residents of Hawaii? Gov? Anything? Surely they’d be willing to pay through the nose, right?

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