Final month, we noticed a robust instance of the American Resort & Lodging Affiliation’s advocacy affect and attain as we secured an vital coverage victory that ensures honest remedy for lodges in Hawaii, a significant U.S. vacationer vacation spot that’s important to the well being of our trade.
As our members know, AHLA is continually monitoring states throughout the nation for insurance policies that discriminate towards lodges in favor of short-term rental properties. We’re not against short-term leases, and in reality lots of our members function them. However we’re against any effort that offers short-term leases particular remedy over lodges, which normally comes within the type of much less regulatory oversight in areas akin to taxes, zoning, or visitor security requirements.
AHLA’s management on this situation got here at a important time for the Aloha State.
Like many different states, Hawaii has seen the disastrous results of the explosive progress of unregulated short-term leases. When residential houses are purchased for the business use of renting them out to short-term company, it takes housing choices off the market, driving up costs and placing houses out of attain for native households. It will probably additionally destroy neighborhoods as many short-term leases turn out to be get together homes for non permanent company, creating unsafe environments for residents who dwell there year-round.
The state of affairs worsened when wildfires hit Maui final summer season. A preliminary Federal Emergency Administration Company report from February mentioned greater than 2,200 buildings had been destroyed by these fires, and damages exceeded $5 billion. That created much more housing issues for Hawaii residents.
In Might, the state took motion to make housing extra inexpensive for residents by enacting a brand new legislation, SB 2919, which included insurance policies AHLA has championed for years. Importantly, SB 2919 gave native officers the power to manage and zone short-term leases beneath the identical requirements as lodges and section out short-term leases fully in the event that they select.
Gov. Josh Inexperienced burdened the dire want for this legislation in his state. An announcement issued from his workplace mentioned the brand new legislation marks a “pivotal second in tackling the short-term rental disaster in Hawaii,” and added it can “assist towards the opposed impacts of non-resident possession of short-term leases, which impedes housing provide for residents and emphasizes the distinctive wants of every county in regulating such lodging.”
The legislation was handed because of a broad vary of help for this alteration. It was backed not solely by our trade companions on the Hawai‘i Resort Alliance, but in addition by many group advocacy organizations and two labor unions—Unite Right here Native 5 and the Worldwide Longshore & Warehouse Union Native 142.
Our victory in Hawaii isn’t the tip of the story. AHLA continues to battle towards state-level efforts to present short-term leases unfair benefits over lodges. These efforts are leading to coverage victories throughout the nation:
- In Georgia, legislators had been contemplating a invoice that might have exempted many short-term leases from regulation. AHLA labored with the Georgia Resort & Lodging Affiliation to defeat that proposal.
- In Kentucky, a invoice that might have denied counties the choice of prohibiting using residential properties for short-term leases was killed this yr. Because of AHLA employees work and the Kentucky Journey Business Affiliation, that invoice by no means bought a listening to in committee.
- Comparable laws in Nebraska to stop regulation of short-term leases was stymied because of AHLA.
- In Tennessee, AHLA and the Tennessee Hospitality & Tourism Affiliation stopped laws that might have offered monetary incentives for the development of short-term rental properties.
- AHLA labored carefully with the Utah Tourism Business Affiliation to defeat laws that might have elevated the state transient room tax on lodges however not for short-term leases. With out the lodge trade’s advocacy, Utah’s lodges would have seen two statewide will increase to the transient room tax totaling 1.6 %.
Our success in Hawaii and different states reveals the choices we’ve made over the past a number of years to spend money on state and native authorities affairs employees and strengthen our partnerships with state lodge associations are paying big dividends. Our crew will proceed to make use of these assets to rack up coverage victories anyplace within the nation the place our trade and its staff are threatened.
