STAND. COM. REP. NO.  426

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

 

RE:   H.B. No. 197

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Tourism, to which was referred H.B. No. 197 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TAX,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to assist the counties financially so they can better support tourism and tourism-related services by removing the current dollar amount cap on transient accommodations tax revenues to be distributed to the counties and establishing the distribution of these revenues as a percentage of transient accommodations tax collected.

 

     Three council members from the County of Maui, a council member from the County of Hawaii, and two council members from the County of Kauai supported this measure.  The Department of Budget and Finance, Hawaii Tourism Authority, State-County Functions Working Group, and the Tax Foundation of Hawaii offered comments.  

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by clarifying that the transient accommodations tax revenues to be distributed to the counties shall be used to address the impact of the visitor industry on county services and tourism-related infrastructure.

 


     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 197, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 197, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Tourism,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

TOM BROWER, Chair