But at the beginning of the year, I was confident that the Legislature would increase the minimum wage.

The reasons seemed obvious:

• The need is urgent. The gap between the $10.10 minimum wage and what a single adult worker needs to earn — about $19 per hour — to cover basic living expenses, coupled with recent inflation, means that lower-income families are struggling more than ever.

• There is broad public support. A February 2022 poll found that 77% of residents wanted to raise the minimum wage, while an earlier poll showed that 57% of business leaders supported substantial minimum wage increases.

• Policymakers back it. Increasing the minimum wage topped the agendas of both House and Senate leadership at the beginning of the session, and the Hawai Democratic Party named it as a chief legislative priority.

Yet with just over a week left in the legislative session, no minimum wage bill has passed. The House and the Senate are caught up in a political game of chicken that could have devastating consequences.