Bill > SB2698

This bill, effective July 1, 2050, requires the Department of Transportation to implement a $10 per passenger "head fee" on cruise ships docking in the State's commercial harbors, in addition to existing port user fees, with all collected fees going into a newly established Cruise Ship Special Fund dedicated to port facility and capital improvement projects for cruise ship operations. Importantly, this bill also repeals the existing Transient Accommodations Tax (TAT), a tax on short-term lodging, as it applies to cruise ships, making this repeal retroactive to January 1, 2026, and consequently removes the definitions of "cruise fare," "cruise ship," and "cruise ship cabin" from the relevant tax statutes, thereby ending the previous taxation of cruise fares under the TAT.

Budget and Finance, Transportation and Infrastructure

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2698&year=2026