HB2618 • 2026

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

Budget

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: LOWEN, NAKAMURA, TAM, TODD
Last action: 2026-03-20
Official status: The committee on AEN deferred the measure.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

What This Bill Does

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
Climate Change and Tourism Destination Management; Projects; Expenditure Request; Governor Establishes a Green Fee Special Fund to receive an allocation of green fee revenues.
Establishes various special funds to receive allocations of green fee revenues.
Requires the Governor to request, through a bill separate from the budget or supplemental budget, an amount that approximates green fee revenues subtracted from the amounts allocated to the various funds to be expended for certain climate change and tourism destination management projects.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: HB2618 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.

HB2618 HD1 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES H.B.
NO.
2618 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 H.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT .

Bill History

2026-03-20 S
The committee on AEN deferred the measure.
2026-03-20 S
The committee on WLA deferred the measure.
2026-03-20 S
The committee on EDT deferred the measure.
2026-03-17 S
The committee(s) on EDT/WLA/AEN has scheduled a public hearing on 03-20-26 1:02PM; Conference Room 224 & Videoconference.
2026-03-10 S
Referred to EDT/WLA/AEN, WAM.
2026-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2026-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 128).
2026-03-05 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Garcia, Kong, Muraoka, Shimizu voting no (4) and Representative(s) Perruso excused (1). Transmitted to Senate.
2026-03-05 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 884-26), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2026-03-02 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Gedeon; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos.
2026-02-27 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Monday, 03-02-26 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-20 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Matsumoto voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Alcos, Garcia, Muraoka, Pierick voting no (4) and Representative(s) Quinlan excused (1).
2026-02-20 H
Reported from EEP/TOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 726-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
2026-02-12 H
The committee on TOU recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Tam, Templo, Hussey, Ilagan, Yamashita, Gedeon; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Holt.
2026-02-12 H
The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Chun, Kusch, Quinlan, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Kahaloa.
2026-02-06 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by EEP/TOU on Thursday, 02-12-26 9:30AM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-02-03 H
Re-referred to EEP/TOU, FIN, referral sheet 7
2026-02-02 H
Referred to EEP, TOU, FIN, referral sheet 6
2026-01-28 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
Climate Change and Tourism Destination Management; Projects; Expenditure Request; Governor
Establishes a Green Fee Special Fund to receive an allocation of green fee revenues. Establishes various special funds to receive allocations of green fee revenues. Requires the Governor to request, through a bill separate from the budget or supplemental budget, an amount that approximates green fee revenues subtracted from the amounts allocated to the various funds to be expended for certain climate change and tourism destination management projects. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB2618

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2618

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to the environment
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section 37-79, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

����
"
[
[
]
�37-79[
]
]
�
Climate change and tourism destination
management; projects; [
budget
]
expenditure
request.
�
The governor shall request, [
in
]
through
a bill separate from
the budget or the supplemental budget submitted to the
legislature pursuant to section 37-71 or 37-72, that
an
amount of general funds that approximates the additional revenue generated by
any increase to the transient accommodations tax rate
s pursuant to section
237D-2(a)(6) and (c)(4) beginning on January 1, 2026, and section 237D-2(e)
beginning on July 1, 2026,
and by assessment of the
transient accommodations tax on gross rental proceeds derived from cruise fares

pursuant to section 237D-2(a) be expended equally to advance specific
projects to:

����
(1)
�
Protect, manage,
and restore the State's natural resources, including native forests, native
plants and animals, aquatic resources, coastal lands, and freshwater resources;

����
(2)
�
Increase the
resilience of structures and infrastructure to natural and climate-related
disasters, such as hurricanes and sea level rise, and perform hazard mitigation
activities, such as wildfire and flood mitigation; and

����
(3)
�
Improve the
visitor experience, mitigate the impacts of tourism on the natural environment,
ensure that the State's natural resources are maintained for future residents
and visitors, and support destination management, such as park improvements and
beach improvement, nourishment, and maintenance projects."

����
SECTION 2.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 3.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Climate
Change and Tourism Destination Management; Projects; Expenditure Request;
Governor

Description:

Requires
the Governor to request, through a bill separate from the budget or
supplemental budget, an amount of general funds that approximates the
additional revenue generated by any increase to the transient accommodations
tax rate and by assessment of the transient accommodations tax on gross rental
proceeds derived from cruise fares for certain climate change and tourism
destination management projects.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.