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House Committee on Tourism advances bill to assess per-passenger cruise fee, creates special fund
Summary
The House Committee on Tourism on March 24 voted to pass Senate Bill 2698 SD2 HD1, which would authorize a per-passenger fee on cruise ships docking at state commercial harbors and create a dedicated "cruise ship special fund." Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings testified in support; the committee recorded no opposition and passed the measure unamended by voice vote.
The House Committee on Tourism voted March 24 to pass Senate Bill 2698 SD2 HD1, a transportation measure that would direct the Department of Transportation to assess a per-passenger fee on cruise ship passengers docking at the state's commercial harbors and establish a "cruise ship special fund." The committee adopted the chair's recommendation to pass the bill unamended by voice vote, with the chair, the vice chair and four representatives recorded as voting "aye."
Sandy Weir of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings testified in support, saying, "I strongly support this bill and stand on my testimony." The transcript records Weir as the only named individual to give substantive oral testimony during the hearing; the Department of Transportation (participating by Zoom) and the Department of Taxation (in person) were listed as testifiers but no statements from them appear in the provided transcript.
The bill, as read into the record by the chair, would also repeal an existing transient accommodations provision that applied to cruise ships. The transcript lists the measure as retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026. The chair read an appropriation effective date recorded in the transcript as "07/01/3000," which appears to be a typographical or transcription error; the committee did not clarify that appropriation date on the record.
Committee testimony and the submitted written record were described by the chair as containing multiple support submissions and some comment submissions; the chair said the committee received no opposition testimony. After briefly asking whether there were any additional in-room or Zoom speakers, the chair recessed and later reconvened to take the vote.
The committee's voice vote was initiated by the vice chair, and the chair announced that his recommendation was adopted. Recorded votes were: Chair (aye), Vice Chair (aye), Rep. Hussey (aye), Rep. Iligan (aye), Rep. Yamashita (aye) and Rep. Gideon (aye). The chair then adjourned the hearing.
Next steps for the bill are not recorded in the provided transcript; the committee took no amendments and recorded no opposition on the measure during this session.
