The state Senate Committee on Labor will have a public hearing today regarding a bill that would increase the state’s minimum wage.

House Bill 1191, which would incrementally raise the minimum wage in Hawaiʻi to $15 an hour by 2024, successfully passed the House and faces its first Senate committee today.

The bill calls for annual increases in the hourly minimum wage, raising it from the current $10.10 to $12 per hour in 2020, and from then on increasing it by $1 each year.

The minimum wage for employees who receive health coverage through their employers would be subject to a smaller increase—rising to $10.50 an hour in 2020 and increasing by 50 cents each year until capping at $12.50 in 2024.

During previous hearings in the House, the bill received significant opposition from business interests, but substantially more support from others. Supporters cited research that increases to minimum wage does not substantially harm businesses—often quite the contrary.

Meanwhile, supporters argued that even though wages increased recently, the cost of living increased at a greater rate.

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