For years, “Fight for $15” rallied advocates who favored minimum wage increases across the U.S. Several states and jurisdictions followed suit by passing increases that pushed their minimum wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Fresh off these wins, some have begun calls for a new threshold — and they are already starting to see success.
Specifically, $18 could very well be the new $15. On June 22, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed into law Act 114, instituting a series of minimum wage increases in the Aloha State. Under the law, Hawaii’s minimum wage will increase to $12 an hour on October 1, 2022, from the present level of $10.10 an hour. Beginning Jan. 1, 2024, the minimum wage will increase to $14 an hour, thereafter increasing by two dollars per hour every two years until reaching $18 an hour on January 1, 2028.
And Hawaii may not be alone. On Jan. 1, 2022, California, the first U.S. state to pass legislation increasing its minimum wage to $15 an hour, finally saw the $15 minimum take effect. California’s law also provides for annual, automatic adjustments beginning in 2023 to account for inflation.
It was not long before California’s $15 minimum kicked in, however, that one group submitted a ballot initiative supporting yet another increase. If signatures for the proposal are certified, voters could have the opportunity to decide the fate of the initiative, which would raise California’s minimum wage to $18 an hour by 2025.
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