Minimum wage hike bill advances, but critics say it’s still not enough
A bill to hike Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage is moving to the full house, but critics say it still falls short of what a person needs to live in the 50th state.
Even the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism says so, according to those critics.
“According to DBEDT, somebody in 2020 who’s single with no children needs over 17 dollars an hour to be self-sufficient. So our own state is telling us it’s $17 or more in 2020,” said Nicole Woo, senior policy analyst with the Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice.
“If it takes $17 an hour just to survive and everyone agrees that it does, then why aren’t we requiring employers to pay it?” asked the Rev. David Gerlach. He’s the rector at St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church in Palama, which is surrounded by lower income residents.
“I have a neighborhood where I have working dads, full time, raising two kids, living in ten foot by ten foot apartments, and they’re paying $750 a month for that, and they’re still not getting by full-time,” said Gerlach.