Labor leaders urge lawmakers to move minimum wage increase
A half-dozen Hawaiʻi labor leaders are urging House Speaker Scott Saiki to move quickly this week to schedule floor votes on stalled bills to increase Hawaiʻi’s minimum wage and exempt unemployment payments from state income taxes.
Senate Bill 614 dealing with the state income tax on unemployment benefits and Senate Bill 676 to increase the state minimum wage to $12 an hour are both stuck in the House Labor and Tourism Committee, where Chairman Richard Onishi never scheduled them for a hearing.
The decision to delay a minimum wage increase for low-income workers has been particularly galling to some activists because all members of the Legislature are set to receive two pay raises in the year ahead.
In a letter to Saiki dated Monday, private industry labor leaders including ILWU President Donna Domingo and Unite Here! Local 5 Financial Secretary-Treasurer Eric Gill said that 20 other states increased their minimum wage this year.
“These are unprecedented times which necessitate bold steps to care for Hawaiʻi’s working families and our most vulnerable,” the letter stated.
