Hawaii 2023 Regular Session

Hawaii Senate Bill SB364 Compare Versions

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11 THE SENATE S.B. NO. 364 THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 STATE OF HAWAII A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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3131 A BILL FOR AN ACT
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3737 RELATING TO THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX.
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4343 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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4646
4747 SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's natural resources, including reefs, beaches, oceans, forests, streams, estuaries, and shorelines, provide irreplaceable and invaluable benefits to residents, visitors, and the global community at large. These ecosystems are vital to the State's visitor industry and the resident community's identity. The legislature also finds that the State's vital ecosystems and the resources they harbor continue to decline due to the lack of adequate implementation of proven and effective conservation approaches and rising pressures of climate change. The legislature further finds that Hawaii's natural environment faces significant pressure from the heavy use it receives from residents and persons traveling from throughout the world to enjoy the State's natural beauty and resources. Continuing underinvestment in the protection and care of natural resources poses a significant liability to the stability of the State's natural systems, including water quality, economic resilience, and health and safety of the ecosystem. Hawaii residents already contribute to the protection and management of the State's natural resources through taxes, environmental care and management, subsistence and cultural practices, and civic responsibility driven by values and practices embodied in the state constitution. However, with escalating impacts, there is an immediate need for additional resources to protect, restore, and manage natural and open space resources. It is reasonable and timely to create a permanent fund to protect, restore, and care for these resources. The legislature believes that it is necessary and appropriate to allocate transient accommodations tax revenues to help offset the impacts and ensure that a positive environmental legacy is left for future generations. A natural resource management special fund with commission oversight will ensure disbursements are targeted to address the purposes of the fund. The purpose of this Act is to: (1) Establish a natural resource management special fund for the natural resource management commission to address impacts to natural resources and management of natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry; (2) Establish a natural resource management commission to guide and approve the disbursement of moneys deposited into the natural resource management special fund; (3) Allocate annually, $30,000,000 in transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund; (4) Allocate $60,000,000 in transient accommodations tax revenues to the Hawaii tourism authority; and (5) Repeal the transient accommodations tax allocation of $3,000,000 to the special land and development fund. SECTION 2. Chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding three new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows: "§201B-A Natural resource management special fund; establishment. (a) There is established within the state treasury the natural resource management special fund, which shall be expended by the natural resource management commission to address impacts to natural resources and manage natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry, including: (1) Offsetting adverse environmental impacts caused by resident and visitor use and ensuring that the State's natural and open space resources are maintained for continued use by visitors and future generations, such as projects that directly restore, enhance, and protect, in perpetuity, Hawaii's state-owned natural and open space resources and the State's unique and vulnerable ecosystems; (2) Protecting, restoring, or enhancing terrestrial or marine natural resources; (3) Increasing the resilience and adaptation of Hawaii's natural and open space resources with environmentally beneficial strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change, including coastal erosion, sea level rise, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, destruction of reefs, and other impacts; (4) Removing and controlling invasive species and propagating and planting native species; and (5) Addressing deterioration and removal of dilapidated, condemned, obsolete, or unused buildings or structures located on state land that could otherwise be used as a public park or open space, particularly when the land is in close proximity to the ocean or coastline and can be revitalized for public use and enjoyment. (b) The following moneys shall be deposited into the natural resource management special fund: (1) Transient accommodations tax revenues allocated to the natural resource management special fund pursuant to section 237D-6.5(b); (2) Appropriations made by the legislature; and (3) Grants and gifts made to the fund. §201B-B Natural resource management commission; establishment; powers; duties. (a) There is established the natural resource management commission, which shall be placed within the Hawaii tourism authority for administrative purposes. The commission shall be composed of: (1) The following ex officio voting members: (A) The chief executive officer of the Hawaii tourism authority or the chief executive officer's designee, who shall serve as the chairperson of the commission; (B) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee; (C) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources or the chairperson's designee; (D) The chairperson of the board of agriculture or the chairperson's designee; (E) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development or the director's designee; and (F) The head of each county agency functioning as a visitors bureau or if none, a representative of each county's visitor industry, to be selected by the respective mayor; and (2) The following voting members, who shall be nominated by the officials provided in this paragraph and shall be appointed by the governor in the manner prescribed in section 26-34: (A) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in impacts to natural resources and the management of natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission; (B) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in addressing deterioration and removal of dilapidated, condemned, obsolete, or unused buildings or structures located on state land that could otherwise be used as a public park or open space, particularly when the land is in close proximity to the ocean or coastline and can be revitalized for public use and enjoyment, who shall be nominated by the director of business, economic development, and tourism; (C) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in the protection, restoration, and care of terrestrial natural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources; (D) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in the protection, restoration, and care of marine and coastal natural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources; (E) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in climate change mitigation and resiliency, who shall be nominated by the director of the office of planning and sustainable development; (F) One representative from the native Hawaiian community who has expertise in the protection, restoration, care, and interpretation of native Hawaiian cultural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission; (G) One representative between the age of eighteen and twenty-five years, inclusive, who works or has worked in the field of environmental sustainability or restoration, or both, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission; and (H) One representative from the visitor sector and tourism industry, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission. (b) A simple majority of the members shall establish a quorum. (c) The members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties. (d) The natural resource management commission may hire staff necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. The staff, at a minimum, shall include one full-time equivalent permanent manager position and one full-time equivalent permanent clerical position. (e) The natural resource management commission shall: (1) Expend no more than three per cent of the annual allocation of transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund for administrative and staffing expenses; (2) Expend revenues deposited into the natural resource management special fund through the provision of grants to state agencies, the counties, and non-profit organizations for the purposes of the fund; provided that no more than five per cent of the moneys disbursed for the grants from the fund may be used for personnel and other administrative costs; and (3) Promote transparency and accountability in determining the specific uses for and disbursements from the fund, subject to the uses authorized under section 201B-A. §201B-C Report to legislature. (a) No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2025 and each year thereafter, the Hawaii tourism authority shall submit a report to the legislature. (b) The report shall contain information on ways that the natural resources management special fund addressed impacts to natural resources and managed natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry during the previous fiscal year and the benefits to the State's natural and open space resources that accrue or will accrue from those expenditures. (c) The Hawaii tourism authority shall also publish the annual reports on its website." SECTION 3. Section 237D-6.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows: "(b) Except for the revenues collected pursuant to section 237D-2(e), revenues collected under this chapter shall be distributed in the following priority, with the excess revenues to be deposited into the general fund: (1) $1,500,000 shall be allocated to the Turtle Bay conservation easement special fund beginning July 1, 2015, for the reimbursement to the state general fund of debt service on reimbursable general obligation bonds, including ongoing expenses related to the issuance of the bonds, the proceeds of which were used to acquire the conservation easement and other real property interests in Turtle Bay, Oahu, for the protection, preservation, and enhancement of natural resources important to the State, until the bonds are fully amortized; (2) $11,000,000 shall be allocated to the convention center enterprise special fund established under section 201B-8; (3) An allocation shall be deposited into the tourism emergency special fund, established in section 201B‑10, in a manner sufficient to maintain a fund balance of $5,000,000 in the tourism emergency special fund; [and (4) $3,000,000 shall be allocated to the special land and development fund established under section 171-19; provided that the allocation shall be expended in accordance with the Hawaii tourism authority strategic plan for: (A) The protection, preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of natural resources, including beaches, important to the visitor industry; (B) Planning, construction, and repair of facilities; and (C) Operation and maintenance costs of public lands, including beaches, connected with enhancing the visitor experience.] (4) $30,000,000 shall be allocated to the natural resource management special fund established under section 201B-A; and (5) $60,000,000 shall be allocated to the Hawaii tourism authority. All transient accommodations taxes shall be paid into the state treasury each month within ten days after collection and shall be kept by the state director of finance in special accounts for distribution as provided in this subsection." SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $30,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for: (1) The purposes of the fund established under section 201B-A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, established by this Act; and (2) Administrative and staffing expenses for the natural resource management commission to include one full‑time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent manager position and one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent clerical position. The sums appropriated shall be expended by the natural resource management commission for the purposes of this Act. SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $60,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for operating expenses of the Hawaii tourism authority. The sums appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii tourism authority for its operations. SECTION 6. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act. SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored. SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that the amendments made to section 237D-6.5(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 3 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is reenacted on June 30, 2023, pursuant to: (1) Section 9 of Act 229, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021; and (2) Section 15 of Act 109, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022. INTRODUCED BY: _____________________________
4848
4949 SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's natural resources, including reefs, beaches, oceans, forests, streams, estuaries, and shorelines, provide irreplaceable and invaluable benefits to residents, visitors, and the global community at large. These ecosystems are vital to the State's visitor industry and the resident community's identity.
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5151 The legislature also finds that the State's vital ecosystems and the resources they harbor continue to decline due to the lack of adequate implementation of proven and effective conservation approaches and rising pressures of climate change.
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5353 The legislature further finds that Hawaii's natural environment faces significant pressure from the heavy use it receives from residents and persons traveling from throughout the world to enjoy the State's natural beauty and resources. Continuing underinvestment in the protection and care of natural resources poses a significant liability to the stability of the State's natural systems, including water quality, economic resilience, and health and safety of the ecosystem.
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5555 Hawaii residents already contribute to the protection and management of the State's natural resources through taxes, environmental care and management, subsistence and cultural practices, and civic responsibility driven by values and practices embodied in the state constitution. However, with escalating impacts, there is an immediate need for additional resources to protect, restore, and manage natural and open space resources. It is reasonable and timely to create a permanent fund to protect, restore, and care for these resources.
5656
5757 The legislature believes that it is necessary and appropriate to allocate transient accommodations tax revenues to help offset the impacts and ensure that a positive environmental legacy is left for future generations. A natural resource management special fund with commission oversight will ensure disbursements are targeted to address the purposes of the fund.
5858
5959 The purpose of this Act is to:
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6161 (1) Establish a natural resource management special fund for the natural resource management commission to address impacts to natural resources and management of natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry;
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6363 (2) Establish a natural resource management commission to guide and approve the disbursement of moneys deposited into the natural resource management special fund;
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6565 (3) Allocate annually, $30,000,000 in transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund;
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6767 (4) Allocate $60,000,000 in transient accommodations tax revenues to the Hawaii tourism authority; and
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6969 (5) Repeal the transient accommodations tax allocation of $3,000,000 to the special land and development fund.
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7171 SECTION 2. Chapter 201B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding three new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
7272
7373 "§201B-A Natural resource management special fund; establishment. (a) There is established within the state treasury the natural resource management special fund, which shall be expended by the natural resource management commission to address impacts to natural resources and manage natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry, including:
7474
7575 (1) Offsetting adverse environmental impacts caused by resident and visitor use and ensuring that the State's natural and open space resources are maintained for continued use by visitors and future generations, such as projects that directly restore, enhance, and protect, in perpetuity, Hawaii's state-owned natural and open space resources and the State's unique and vulnerable ecosystems;
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7777 (2) Protecting, restoring, or enhancing terrestrial or marine natural resources;
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7979 (3) Increasing the resilience and adaptation of Hawaii's natural and open space resources with environmentally beneficial strategies to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change, including coastal erosion, sea level rise, ocean acidification, coral bleaching, destruction of reefs, and other impacts;
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8181 (4) Removing and controlling invasive species and propagating and planting native species; and
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8383 (5) Addressing deterioration and removal of dilapidated, condemned, obsolete, or unused buildings or structures located on state land that could otherwise be used as a public park or open space, particularly when the land is in close proximity to the ocean or coastline and can be revitalized for public use and enjoyment.
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8585 (b) The following moneys shall be deposited into the natural resource management special fund:
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8787 (1) Transient accommodations tax revenues allocated to the natural resource management special fund pursuant to section 237D-6.5(b);
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8989 (2) Appropriations made by the legislature; and
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9191 (3) Grants and gifts made to the fund.
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9393 §201B-B Natural resource management commission; establishment; powers; duties. (a) There is established the natural resource management commission, which shall be placed within the Hawaii tourism authority for administrative purposes. The commission shall be composed of:
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9595 (1) The following ex officio voting members:
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9797 (A) The chief executive officer of the Hawaii tourism authority or the chief executive officer's designee, who shall serve as the chairperson of the commission;
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9999 (B) The director of business, economic development, and tourism or the director's designee;
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101101 (C) The chairperson of the board of land and natural resources or the chairperson's designee;
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103103 (D) The chairperson of the board of agriculture or the chairperson's designee;
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105105 (E) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development or the director's designee; and
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107107 (F) The head of each county agency functioning as a visitors bureau or if none, a representative of each county's visitor industry, to be selected by the respective mayor; and
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109109 (2) The following voting members, who shall be nominated by the officials provided in this paragraph and shall be appointed by the governor in the manner prescribed in section 26-34:
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111111 (A) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in impacts to natural resources and the management of natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission;
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113113 (B) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in addressing deterioration and removal of dilapidated, condemned, obsolete, or unused buildings or structures located on state land that could otherwise be used as a public park or open space, particularly when the land is in close proximity to the ocean or coastline and can be revitalized for public use and enjoyment, who shall be nominated by the director of business, economic development, and tourism;
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115115 (C) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in the protection, restoration, and care of terrestrial natural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources;
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117117 (D) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in the protection, restoration, and care of marine and coastal natural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the board of land and natural resources;
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119119 (E) One representative of a nonprofit organization having expertise in climate change mitigation and resiliency, who shall be nominated by the director of the office of planning and sustainable development;
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121121 (F) One representative from the native Hawaiian community who has expertise in the protection, restoration, care, and interpretation of native Hawaiian cultural resources, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission;
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123123 (G) One representative between the age of eighteen and twenty-five years, inclusive, who works or has worked in the field of environmental sustainability or restoration, or both, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission; and
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125125 (H) One representative from the visitor sector and tourism industry, who shall be nominated by the chairperson of the commission.
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127127 (b) A simple majority of the members shall establish a quorum.
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129129 (c) The members shall serve without compensation but shall be reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the performance of their duties.
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131131 (d) The natural resource management commission may hire staff necessary to effectuate the purposes of this section. The staff, at a minimum, shall include one full-time equivalent permanent manager position and one full-time equivalent permanent clerical position.
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133133 (e) The natural resource management commission shall:
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135135 (1) Expend no more than three per cent of the annual allocation of transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund for administrative and staffing expenses;
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137137 (2) Expend revenues deposited into the natural resource management special fund through the provision of grants to state agencies, the counties, and non-profit organizations for the purposes of the fund; provided that no more than five per cent of the moneys disbursed for the grants from the fund may be used for personnel and other administrative costs; and
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139139 (3) Promote transparency and accountability in determining the specific uses for and disbursements from the fund, subject to the uses authorized under section 201B-A.
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141141 §201B-C Report to legislature. (a) No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2025 and each year thereafter, the Hawaii tourism authority shall submit a report to the legislature.
142142
143143 (b) The report shall contain information on ways that the natural resources management special fund addressed impacts to natural resources and managed natural and open space resources that are important to residents and the visitor industry during the previous fiscal year and the benefits to the State's natural and open space resources that accrue or will accrue from those expenditures.
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145145 (c) The Hawaii tourism authority shall also publish the annual reports on its website."
146146
147147 SECTION 3. Section 237D-6.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
148148
149149 "(b) Except for the revenues collected pursuant to section 237D-2(e), revenues collected under this chapter shall be distributed in the following priority, with the excess revenues to be deposited into the general fund:
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151151 (1) $1,500,000 shall be allocated to the Turtle Bay conservation easement special fund beginning July 1, 2015, for the reimbursement to the state general fund of debt service on reimbursable general obligation bonds, including ongoing expenses related to the issuance of the bonds, the proceeds of which were used to acquire the conservation easement and other real property interests in Turtle Bay, Oahu, for the protection, preservation, and enhancement of natural resources important to the State, until the bonds are fully amortized;
152152
153153 (2) $11,000,000 shall be allocated to the convention center enterprise special fund established under section 201B-8;
154154
155155 (3) An allocation shall be deposited into the tourism emergency special fund, established in section 201B‑10, in a manner sufficient to maintain a fund balance of $5,000,000 in the tourism emergency special fund; [and
156156
157157 (4) $3,000,000 shall be allocated to the special land and development fund established under section 171-19; provided that the allocation shall be expended in accordance with the Hawaii tourism authority strategic plan for:
158158
159159 (A) The protection, preservation, maintenance, and enhancement of natural resources, including beaches, important to the visitor industry;
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161161 (B) Planning, construction, and repair of facilities; and
162162
163163 (C) Operation and maintenance costs of public lands, including beaches, connected with enhancing the visitor experience.]
164164
165165 (4) $30,000,000 shall be allocated to the natural resource management special fund established under section 201B-A; and
166166
167167 (5) $60,000,000 shall be allocated to the Hawaii tourism authority.
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169169 All transient accommodations taxes shall be paid into the state treasury each month within ten days after collection and shall be kept by the state director of finance in special accounts for distribution as provided in this subsection."
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171171 SECTION 4. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $30,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for:
172172
173173 (1) The purposes of the fund established under section 201B-A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, established by this Act; and
174174
175175 (2) Administrative and staffing expenses for the natural resource management commission to include one full‑time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent manager position and one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) permanent clerical position.
176176
177177 The sums appropriated shall be expended by the natural resource management commission for the purposes of this Act.
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179179 SECTION 5. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $60,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for operating expenses of the Hawaii tourism authority.
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181181 The sums appropriated shall be expended by the Hawaii tourism authority for its operations.
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183183 SECTION 6. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
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185185 SECTION 7. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
186186
187187 SECTION 8. This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that the amendments made to section 237D-6.5(b), Hawaii Revised Statutes, by section 3 of this Act shall not be repealed when that section is reenacted on June 30, 2023, pursuant to:
188188
189189 (1) Section 9 of Act 229, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021; and
190190
191191 (2) Section 15 of Act 109, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022.
192192
193193
194194
195195 INTRODUCED BY: _____________________________
196196
197197 INTRODUCED BY:
198198
199199 _____________________________
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205205 Report Title: TAT; HTA; Tourism; Natural Resource Management; Fund; Commission; Report; Appropriation; Positions Description: Establishes the natural resource management special fund and authorizes uses for moneys in the fund. Establishes a Natural Resource Management Commission to guide and approve the disbursement of moneys deposited into the fund. Allocates transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund. Allocates transient accommodations tax revenues to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Repeals the allocation of transient accommodations tax revenues to the special land and development fund. Appropriates moneys for the natural resource management special fund and for operating expenses of the Hawaii tourism authority. The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
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211211 Report Title:
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213213 TAT; HTA; Tourism; Natural Resource Management; Fund; Commission; Report; Appropriation; Positions
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217217 Description:
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219219 Establishes the natural resource management special fund and authorizes uses for moneys in the fund. Establishes a Natural Resource Management Commission to guide and approve the disbursement of moneys deposited into the fund. Allocates transient accommodations tax revenues to the natural resource management special fund. Allocates transient accommodations tax revenues to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Repeals the allocation of transient accommodations tax revenues to the special land and development fund. Appropriates moneys for the natural resource management special fund and for operating expenses of the Hawaii tourism authority.
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227227 The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.