Hawaii ‘Green Fee’ Case to Test Limits of Federal Involvement

A challenge to a Hawaii cruise ship fee will allow the Ninth Circuit to consider whether the federal government can participate in a case involving state taxing powers.

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will hear oral arguments April 13 on the cruise industry’s federal statutory and constitutional claims against the fee, enacted to offset the environmental impacts of the ships’ visits to Hawaii.

But what makes the case unusual is the federal government’s decision to intervene—especially where one of the attorneys representing the cruise lines is the brother of Pam Bondi, who was attorney general when ...