Ige signs minimum wage increase, tax refund bills into law
The wage will increase to $18 by 2028, while many Hawaiʻi taxpayers will get one-time checks for $300.
Sign minimum wage increase immediately
Don’t make our lowest-wage earners wait and wonder any longer. They need and deserve this modest raise.
Reflections on Hawaiʻi’s ‘historic’ legislative session shine bright
It’s only 60 days long, but Hawaiʻi’s legislative session this year was a monumental affair featuring some self-reform, historic spending and a return to in-person public participation, all largely in the wake of a bribery scandal, a budget deficit and peak coronavirus infections.
State legislature closes an ambitious session
After two years of COVID-induced budget cuts, the state legislature took advantage of a rebounding economy and federal relief funding to enact an ambitious agenda.
Minimum wage hike passes: Ige expected to sign measure boosting hourly rate to $18
“People should be able to afford their basic needs on 40 hours a week,” said Nate Hix, the director of Living Wage Hawaiʻi, an advocacy group that has been pushing for a higher minimum wage.
$18 minimum wage heading to final vote
After months of back and forth, the state House and Senate reached an agreement on the $18 minimum hourly wage in a conference committee session Friday.
Don’t let House gut the minimum wage bill
Working families and our economy have been suffering for decades with wages that fail to come close to a livable standard. Fortunately both chambers are finally acting like this deficit needs to be closed. We need them to stand by their promises to workers and our economy, and finally push this bill over the finish line and on to the governor’s desk.
Editorial: Help for Hawaiʻi households
For too many families living in Hawaiʻi, the answer to, “How’re you doing?” is, “Just hanging on.”
Hawaiʻi lawmakers tussle over one minimum wage bill
A clash of wills and philosophies among state lawmakers over how to raise Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage now appears centered on one bill at the legislature instead of two.
Rep. Roy Takumi: Workers deserve a (barely) living wage
It would raise the living standards for women, the elderly, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders who are disproportionately in low-wage jobs.
Bill for $18 minimum wage clears first hurdle
The increase would be historic, giving the state the highest minimum wage in the nation, matching its highest-in-the-nation cost of living. This high cost of living is particularly pronounced on Kaua‘i, which is the most expensive of all the islands.
Hawaiʻi Democrats must raise minimum wage
All Hawaiʻi workers should be able to make ends meet with one job, and it’s our legislature’s responsibility to make that a reality.
Minimum wage has stayed at $10.10 for 4 years. With high inflation, will lawmakers make any changes?
The latest state data show a single adult would need to make about $17 to $18 an hour at a full-time job to afford to live in Hawaiʻi.
Children struggle with pressures of poverty
These children grew up disadvantaged, with no clear avenues of escape, in a society that is permitting, even encouraging, a widening gap between the rich and the poor. Why are we OK with this?
Low minimum wage perpetuates systematic racism in Hawaiʻi
One policy clearly perpetuating systematic racism in Hawaiʻi is the state’s oppressively low minimum wage.