A $22 Minimum Wage?
A Hawaii state representative wants to increase the state’s聽minimum wage to $15 by 2019 and $22 by 2022.
Hawaii’s increased from $8.50 per hour to $9.25 on Jan. 1. It’s slated to jump to $10.10 a year from now.
Businesses and business advocates complain that the higher wage is a burden while聽social groups complain the figure is paltry, given the state’s cost of living and the聽fact that聽some states and cities have in place higher聽wages.
Now along comes Hawaii state聽Rep. Kaniela Ing, a Democrat from聽South Maui, who is sponsoring legislation to increase Hawaii鈥檚 minimum wage to $15 by 2019 and $22 by 2022.
“The bill will also tie the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index and eliminates the exemption for tipped employees,” according to a press release Tuesday. “Ing says the bill will be the nation鈥檚 most progressive ‘living wage’ law, and encompasses the spirit of the grassroots Fight for $15 movement.”
Ing continued:
鈥淗awaii is the most expensive state in the nation. Other high cost of living states and cities like Seattle, California, and New York have already passed $15 minimum wage laws. Working families are struggling, so we as legislators have a moral obligation to act. The evidence shows that raising the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour is the single most impactful policy for Hawaii鈥檚 most vulnerable.鈥
The rep added,聽鈥淚 expect various big-money special interests to oppose the bill, but my hope is that empirical facts, popular opinion, and baseline morality will …聽prevail in the end.”
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State Sen. Josh Green 聽also proposed an increased wage, to $15 an hour by 2019.
