HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The effort to raise Hawaii’s minimum wage to $18 an hour is still alive in the state Legislature.
House Bill 2510 is expected to go to the Senate Ways and Means Committee where, if passed, it could go to the full Senate for a final vote before going back to the House for final approval.
If the measure does pass and is signed by Gov. David Ige, the law would bring the minimum wage from the current rate of $10.10 per hour to $18 per hour by the year 2026.
There were actually two bills introduced: one in the House and one in the Senate. Each bill ultimately brought the minimum wage to $18 an hour, but each differed in how and when to get there.
The bill originally introduced in the Senate was more aggressive, raising the minimum wage two years until $18 an hour in 2026.
The original House bill was a more gradual increase, getting to the $18 an hour figure in the year 2030. The House bill is still alive and has been amended in the Senate to look more like the original Senate bill: $18 an hour by 2026.
There is another schedule that also increases the hourly wage for tipped employees who are paid different than most hourly employees who don’t include gratuity in their income.
Groups like the Retail Merchant’s Association have expressed concerns asking that the increase stop at $15 an hour.
Some small business owners worry that a dramatic increase could hinder any recovery from COVID they were hoping for or even force them to close altogether.
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