Hawaii can begin charging cruise line passengers a tax to offset the costs of climate change, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision Tuesday by Judge Jill Otake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii came as the cruise industry — and the Trump administration — sought a preliminary injunction to prevent the first-in-the-nation fee from taking effect Jan. 1.
Otake, a Trump nominee, said the case raises “multiple (and sometimes competing) federalism concerns.” But she added, given the “vital importance” of taxes to the states, she “declines at this stage to halt the implementation of the transient accommodation tax on cruise ships in Hawaii.”
The Cruise Lines International Association filed suit against Hawaii in August, seeking to block the state’s move to place an 11 percent surcharge on the gross fare paid by a cruise ship’s passengers, prorated by the portion of its voyage spent docked in Hawaiian ports. The law also authorizes Hawaii’s counties to collect an additional 3 percent surcharge.
