A new political action committee in Hawaii aligned with Airbnb is already contributing to local politicians.

罢丑别听聽gave $6,500 to leaders in the Hawaii State Legislature including Speaker Joe Souki, Finance Chair Sylvia Luke, Senate President Ron Kouchi and Senate Majority Leader Kalani English.

Most of the contributions came in June, when Gov. David Ige announced that he intended to veto聽a bill to collect revenue from vacation-rental聽companies like Airbnb.

This Airbnb listing in Lahaina is one of hundreds for short-term rentals in Hawaii on the rapidly growing website.
This Airbnb listing in Lahaina is one of hundreds for short-term rentals in Hawaii on the rapidly growing website. Airbnb

The bill ultimately was vetoed聽鈥 Ige said it would have聽鈥渦nintended consequences鈥 鈥斅but new legislation could surface next session.

Asked if the Airbnb PAC intended to play a greater role locally,聽Cyn Wang, Airbnb’s public policy manager, said in an email:聽“The Committee to Expand the Middle Class is one part of our efforts to help strengthen communities that Airbnb hosts and guests call home. We鈥檙e proud to support principled community leaders and proposals that will make communities stronger.

Wang added, “We have not yet decided whether to pursue state legislation in Hawaii for the upcoming year given Governor Ige’s decision to forgo millions of dollars in revenue by vetoing a bill, supported by his own tax department, that would have allowed us to collect and remit taxes on behalf of users.”

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Council Chair Ernie Martin and former Zoning Committee Chair Ikaika Anderson also received donations from the PAC.

The Hawaii contributions are a drop in the bucket compared with the聽$319,147 the PAC聽spent in California since the first of the year. A lot of聽it went to politicians.

A wrote in April that the聽Committee to Expand the Middle Class put “money behind a variety of ballot initiatives and politicians for the June 2016 ballot.”

“What could have prompted the recent flurry of donor activity, all of which happened in the last week?” reported聽Recode. “Two city supervisors recently proposed new legislation that would more tightly regulate vacation rentals (like Airbnb) in the city.”

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