STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1225-26

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2026

RE: S.B. No. 83

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 83, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HOTELS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require hotelkeepers to provide notification of service disruptions to third-party vendors and prospective and current guests, under certain conditions;

(2) Prohibit hotelkeepers from imposing any fee, penalty, or other charge, or retaining any deposit of a guest who cancels a reservation if a service disruption is likely to exist during the reservation period; and

(3) Require any hotelkeeper who commits a violation or causes another person to commit a violation to forfeit to the injured party an amount that is three times the amount of the sum charged in excess of what the hotelkeeper is entitled to.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State AFL-CIO; UNITE HERE Local 5; and International Longshore & Warehouse Union. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Kohala Coast Resort Association and Maui Hotel & Lodging Association.

Your Committee finds that tourism is a vital aspect of the State's economy that draws visitors from around the world. Your Committee further finds that visitors staying at the State's hotels are often unaware of disruptions in hotel services, such as pest infestations, noisy demonstrations, labor disputes, or potential unavailability of utilities like water, gas, and electricity, and are unable to cancel their reservation or find alternative accommodations when they arrive and discover the disruption. Your Committee believes that providing clear notice to guests of service disruptions will ensure that travelers to Hawaii are better able to make informed decisions about their travel before they arrive.

Your Committee notes the concerns raised in testimony that there may be instances where a hotelkeeper may experience a service disruption for reasons outside of the hotelkeeper's control, such as when a hotel is in close proximity to a property where a labor demonstration is occurring and the noise from that demonstration carries to the non-striking hotel. Your Committee recognizes that in such instances it may be unclear if this carried noise would constitute a service disruption. Accordingly, your Committee respectfully requests your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, should it deliberate on this measure, to consider clarifying the degree to which a labor dispute in the vicinity of a non-striking hotel would constitute a service disruption.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language allowing guests to cancel a reservation, or remaining period thereof, and prohibiting hotelkeepers from imposing any fee, penalty, or other charge, or retaining any deposit of a guest who cancels a reservation, if a service disruption occurs or is likely to exist during the reservation period;

(2) Deleting language requiring a hotelkeeper who commits a violation or causes another person to commit a violation to forfeit to the injured party an amount that is three times the amount of the sum charged in excess of what the hotelkeeper is entitled to;

(3) Amending the definition of "service disruption"; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

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 S.B. No. 83, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 83, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

ADRIAN K. TAM, Chair