HR 137 Hawaii House · 2025 Regular Session

STRONGLY URGING THE HAWAII TOURISM AUTHORITY TO ENCOURAGE ALL TRANSIENT ACCOMMODATIONS TO INCORPORATE THE PONO PLEDGE AS A REQUIREMENT FOR GUEST CHECK-IN.

HR 137 is a House Resolution urging the Hawaii Tourism Authority to require all transient accommodations (such as hotels, hostels, short-term rentals, and timeshares) to make the Pono Pledge a mandatory step during guest check-in. The Pono Pledge is an educational commitment teaching visitors to respect Hawaii's environment, cultural sites, and local communities. The resolution requests the Tourism Authority develop procedures for guests to complete and provide proof of the pledge before check-in, using methods like online platforms or in-person acknowledgments. This is a non-binding recommendation, not a law, aimed at promoting responsible tourism practices.

Issues: ✓ Environment

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 7, 2025 Last action Mar 27, 2025

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What changed between versions

HR137 → HR137_HD1 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The document format changed from a House Resolution to a House Bill draft, but the substantive policy language remains largely the same. The main change is the title wording, which shifted from 'require' to 'encourage' all transient accommodations to incorporate the Pono Pledge, slightly softening the mandatory language in the title while the resolution text still uses strong urging language.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on the Hawaii Tourism Authority and transient accommodations (hotels, hostels, short-term rentals, timeshares), with no substantive change in applicability.

TITLE

Title changed from 'require' to 'encourage' all transient accommodations to incorporate the Pono Pledge, though the resolution text still uses 'strongly urged' language.

TECHNICAL

Document structure changed from House Resolution format to House Bill draft format with additional metadata headers.

Removed original House Resolution header information including legislative session details and document tracking numbers.

Added new metadata fields including document identifiers, timestamps, and technical formatting codes.

Floor votes

How they voted

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 27, 2025

Committee

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on CPC as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Hashem, Hussey, Templo, Ward excused (4).

lower

Mar 27, 2025

Committee

Reported from TOU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1586) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to CPC.

lower

Mar 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

The committee on TOU recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Tam, Templo, Holt, Hussey, Ilagan, Todd; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Matsumoto.

lower

Mar 14, 2025

Committee

Referred to TOU, CPC, referral sheet 22

lower

Mar 7, 2025

Introduced

Offered

lower

6 primary · 0 co-sponsors