Advocates for a living wage will be asking our elected officials to deliver on their promises and pass a living wage bill in the 2021 legislative session. But we can’t do it without support from you.
It’s time to Raise Up Hawaiʻi
Every worker deserves a Living Wage.
All tagged Systemic Poverty
On Wednesday, Gov. David Ige signed House Bill 2510 into law, putting Hawaiʻi on a path toward the highest minimum wage in the country. As a small business owner, I say: It’s about time. No one can survive on $10.10 an hour—or just $21,000 a year—in Hawaiʻi.
Although, given HB 2510’s nearly six-year phase-in period, other states may reach that mark first, Hawaiʻi nevertheless becomes the first state to officially enact an $18 minimum wage.
The wage will increase to $18 by 2028, while many Hawaii taxpayers will get one-time checks for $300.
HB2510 will boost annual incomes for low-wage workers by thousands of dollars over the next 6 years, strengthening the economy while alleviating poverty.
Hawaiʻi enacted the nation’s first statewide $18 minimum wage law, with Gov. David Ige’s signature of a bill aimed at fighting poverty among the islands’ workers.
Don’t make our lowest-wage earners wait and wonder any longer. They need and deserve this modest raise.
It’s only 60 days long, but Hawaiʻi’s legislative session this year was a monumental affair featuring some self-reform, historic spending and a return to in-person public participation, all largely in the wake of a bribery scandal, a budget deficit and peak coronavirus infections.
After two years of COVID-induced budget cuts, the state legislature took advantage of a rebounding economy and federal relief funding to enact an ambitious agenda.
“People should be able to afford their basic needs on 40 hours a week,” said Nate Hix, the director of Living Wage Hawaii, an advocacy group that has been pushing for a higher minimum wage.
