Hawaii Passes Landmark Bill Allowing Bans on Airbnbs

Hawaii's legislature voted to allow counties to phase out and eventually ban short-term rentals. The governor is expected to sign.

By Paul Blest, More Perfect Union

Still reeling from last year’s Maui wildfires that left thousands displaced in one of the country’s least affordable states, Hawaii lawmakers voted Wednesday to allow local governments to regulate and potentially ban short-term rentals, which comprise the vast majority of listings on Airbnb.

Democratic-controlled supermajorities in the House and Senate approved a deal reached last week between negotiators from both chambers. Gov. Josh Green also threw his support behind the bill last week, saying it would empower the Maui County Council to create more than 2,000 new housing units. Green signed the bill Friday.

The Senate passed the bill 22-3 on Wednesday morning with minimal debate; one of the three who voted against the bill, Sen. Tim Richards (D), said on the floor that he owned a vacation rental property. The House of Representatives passed the bill later in the day, sending it to Green’s desk for approval. 

A University of Hawaii study from last April, months before the fire that wiped out the entire community of Lahaina and killed more than 100 people, found that 30,000 of the state’s 565,000 housing units—or 5 percent of the state’s housing stock—were short-term rentals. A point-in-time count last year, also conducted before the fire, found more than 6,200 people were homeless across the state. 

Though the decision to ban short-term rentals now rests with county officials and will likely take years to come into effect, the bill represents a high-profile loss for Airbnb. The company has opposed the bill in Hawaii, enlisting former state Attorney General David Louie to argue that the bill “is likely to result in unconstitutional actions that result in substantial future legal action.” (Hawaii’s current Attorney General, Anne Lopez, has said the bill is constitutional, according to SFGate.) 

The Maui Chamber of Commerce also opposed the bill. “Although this may appear to be an innocuous delegation of authority, the proposed changes implanted would conflict with existing constitutional rights that have been explicitly recognized by courts in the State of Hawaii,” the chamber wrote in testimony. “Such changes would potentially cause numerous unintended consequences, which could ultimately lead to a deprivation of vested rights of existing, residential homeowners.”

The Maui County Council, on the other hand, expressed its strong support for the bill.

“It's undeniable that this measure has been long overdue, and it’s heartbreaking that it took our beloved town of Lahaina burning down — leaving so many without stable shelter — to finally get this common-sense legislation this far,” the council wrote in a letter to state lawmakers last month. 

In a statement to More Perfect Union before Green signed, a spokesperson said the bill “would help empower decision-making at the county level by removing any perceived state preemption on the issue.”

“Governor Green…has consistently advocated for the counties to have more tools to address vacation rentals in areas that communities do not want them,” the governor’s office told More Perfect Union. 

What’s happening in the states 

• Mississippi Republicans reached a deal to finally expand Medicaid—but the bill has work requirements that are inconsistent with federal law, and Gov. Tate Reeves has already vowed to veto the legislation. 

• Arizona will repeal its Civil War-era total ban on abortion after state Senate Republicans approved a House repeal Wednesday. Once Gov. Katie Hobbs signs the repeal bill, abortion will be banned after 15 weeks except to save the life of the mother. 

• A Republican-sponsored bill to raise taxes on Mainers making more than $144,000 was passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature—and then vetoed by the Democratic governor, Janet Mills.

• An agricultural right-to-repair bill in Vermont, one of the most rural states, cleared a key committee on Tuesday and could soon receive a vote in the Senate. The bill already passed the House last year, though the bill has since been amended to remove the right of consumers to sue companies that don’t follow the law.

• Maryland is now the third state to ban legacy admissions to universities. 

• Missouri Republicans are pushing a bill to make the state the latest to loosen child labor laws, by removing work permits for kids as young as 14. 

What we’re reading

• Catching Up With Columbia’s Student Radio Station After a Historic Broadcast | Jacob Rosenberg & Najib Aminy, Mother Jones

• A Doctor at Cigna Said Her Bosses Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly. Cigna Threatened to Fire Her. | David Armstrong & Patrick Rucker, Pro Publica and The Capitol Forum

• Whistleblower Laws That Protect Lawbreakers | Maureen Tkacic, The American Prospect

• 10 Years of Super Bowl Secrets | Pat Garofalo, Boondoggle

• They Are Insecure for a Reason | David Roth, Defector