By Dennis Leskovec

Hawaii lawmakers recently passed a bill to raise the transient accommodations tax (TAT) by 0.75%, pushing the total taxes on tourists past 18.7%. Dubbed the “green fee,” this increase is being marketed as a tool to fund climate change mitigation and wildfire prevention. But let’s be clear—this is less about protecting our environment and more about plugging budget holes caused by legislative inaction and financial mismanagement.

This bill assumes visitors will absorb the added cost without reconsidering their travel plans. Yet Hawaii already ranks among the most expensive vacation destinations in the world. Raising taxes on our largest economic engine during a time of global inflation is like tightening the noose around your own neck. We’re risking our future for short-term fixes.

What’s even more frustrating is the broader pattern of legislative failure in Hawaii. Year after year, working groups are formed to “study” potential revenue streams—legalizing online gambling, casinos, or recreational marijuana, for instance. Yet nothing ever materializes. The groups miss deadlines, fail to draft enforceable bills, and face no accountability. These could be multi-million or billion-dollar revenue streams for the state, but instead of courageous innovation, we get cowardly tax hikes slapped on the backs of visitors and small business owners.

Meanwhile, funds for this so-called “green fee” are funneled through the same government channels that failed to act before the Lahaina wildfires. We had the money. We had the warnings. What we lacked was leadership.

If we’re serious about climate change, we need transparent budgeting, a revamped tourism strategy, and the political will to tap into high-yield industries instead of recycling the same tired tax strategies. Until then, we’re taxing the hand that feeds us while ignoring the tools that could build us a stronger, self-reliant future.