ASSOCIATED PRESS HONOLULU — The state Senate Labor Committee on Monday approved a bill to increase Hawaii’s hourly minimum wage to $5.95, effective July 1. It now stands at $5.25. The measure calls for the minimum wage to be adjusted
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU — The state Senate Labor Committee on Monday approved a bill to increase Hawaii’s hourly minimum wage to $5.95, effective July 1. It now stands at $5.25.
The measure calls for the minimum wage to be adjusted annually based on the state’s consumer price index, meaning it would keep pace with inflation. It is unclear in the bill if the minimum wage would be reduced should the consumer price index decline.
“We’ll let the following committee deal with that,” said the committee chairman, Sen. Bob Nakata, D-(23rd District).
The bill also eliminates the current tip credit which allows employers to pay a minimum wage of $5.05 an hour to employees who earn at least 50 cents an hour in tips.
Sen. Sam Slom (R-8th District) cast the lone opposing vote against the bill, which is traditionally opposed by the business community and supported by labor groups. The measure now goes to the Ways and Means Committee.
State labor director Leonard Agor noted that Hawaii’s minimum wage was last increased in 1993 and is well under that of many other states, despite Hawaii’s high cost of living.
Nakata said the increase will help families who need it the most and should also help the state’s economy because those who earn minimum wage spend it immediately.
An effort to increase the minimum wage last year became a casualty in a fight between the House and Senate over several pro-business bills.
