On April 28, the last day that House and Senate lawmakers were to iron out details regarding the fate of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the conference committee members could not reach an agreement and the bill was deferred.
House Bill 1375 sought to dissolve the Hawaii Tourism Authority and replace it with a new entity, the Office of Tourism and Destination Management. Introduced by State Rep. Sean Quinlan and other House members, it was to be governed by a nine-member board of directors, including persons from each island county and the hospitality industry.
"Changing the name and cutting and pasting the current statute, which enables HTA to exist, is not a solution," John De Fries, president and CEO of the HTA, said at Travel Weekly's Leadership Forum earlier this month.
Since neither the House nor Senate lawmakers agreed on the language of HB1375 by the deadline, the HTA will continue its work to manage tourism in the Hawaiian Islands.
The deferral, though, also means the HTA could be operating with little to no funding going forward.
The HTA had originally requested $75 million for this year and $60 million for next year from the state budget. However, the state's budget bill left the HTA out of the measure earlier this week.
"With the omission of the Hawaii Tourism Authority from the state budget bill and today's deferral of HB1375, our work in holistic, integrated destination management, visitor education, and brand marketing is in jeopardy," De Fries said in a statement.
"We appreciate the Legislature's appropriation to repair the Hawaii Convention Center roof, and with the adjustments to current contracts, we will have funds to keep the lights on and retain our staff of 22," he continued. "Our leadership team and board of directors will be making tough decisions in the coming days about canceling active procurements, existing contracts and ongoing community work."
It's possible that money could be added to fund the HTA in the remaining days of the legislature session, but nothing right now is guaranteed.