A flurry of deal-making at the Hawaiʻi legislature as end of session looms
Hawaiʻi lawmakers have pushed back a decision on increasing the state’s minimum wage until Friday, the last day of conference committee to keep bills alive for the 2019 session.
Rep. Aaron Ling Johanson, the lead conferee on House Bill 1191, asked his counterpart Sen. Brian Taniguchi to consider rewriting the bill to incorporate the language of another minimum wage bill that has stalled, Senate Bill 789.
HB 1191 would increase the minimum wage from the current $10.10 to $15 by 2023, and to $17 for full-time state employees and provide a tax credit to small businesses to offset the burden of paying a higher wage.
The latest version of SB 789, which at one point called for raising the wage to $15 by 2023, leaves the dollar amount blank, although it settles on raising the wage by 2024.
It also provides lower minimum wage rates for employees who receive mandatory health care from their employers and includes persons with disabilities “generally applicable” minimum wage requirements.
A wage hike is a shared priority of Governor David Ige and House and Senate leaders. Some social justice advocates want the figure to be $17 across the board. But business groups have warned that that is too high and could lead to layoffs and higher costs for goods and services.
