HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	77
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the department of business, economic development, and tourism to establish a program to provide grants for hotel employees, or entities entirely owned by hotel employees, to purchase hotels and convert them into employee-owned cooperatives.

 

 

        WHEREAS, according to the University of Hawaii, the accommodation and food services sector of the State's economy employed 113,417 people in 2020; and

 

        WHEREAS, throughout the State, many hotels are privately owned by multinational corporations having directors, executives, and shareholders that are not residents of the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, hotels are bought and sold on the open market regularly; and

 

        WHEREAS, numerous industries throughout the United States operate successfully as cooperatives; and

 

        WHEREAS, there are numerous examples of successful employee-owned hotels throughout the world, including The Priory Hotel in Scotland, the hotels of Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels in North Carolina, and the hotels of TPI Hospitality in Minnesota; and

 

        WHEREAS, developing a process for employees of a bankrupt hotel to purchase and operate that hotel as a cooperative business could prevent increased unemployment in the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, accordingly, it is appropriate for the State to provide grants to match funds for hotel employees to buy hotels and establish employee-owned hotel cooperatives; now, therefore,

 

        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is urged to establish a program to provide grants for hotel employees, or entities entirely owned by hotel employees, to purchase hotels and convert them into employee-owned hotel cooperatives; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism is requested to require employees and entities to provide matching funds on a dollar   for   dollar basis to qualify for grants under the program; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:  

DBEDT; Hotels; Employees; Cooperatives