Danny de Gracia is a resident of Waipahu, a political scientist and an ordained minister. Opinions are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Civil Beat's views. You can reach him by email at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @ddg2cb.
Raising Hawaii’s minimum wage will be considered a key strategy for economic recovery during this year’s legislative session. And while the thought of raising the minimum wage has provoked bitter arguments — both for and against — over the years, incumbent legislators have to face voters for reelection in the midst of an inflation that saw prices hike as much as 7% last year, the worst since 1982.
If the Legislature doesn’t at least try to raise the minimum wage this year, lawmakers will run the risk of looking like they didn’t do anything substantial to respond to the rapidly souring economic situation.
So, if you ask me, when all is said and done, they’ll probably succeed at passing a bill to raise the minimum wage.
To be fair, the minimum wage in Hawaii definitely needs to be increased. (In fact, all of us need a raise.) If you’re making less than $21,000 a year in Hawaii, you’re going to have to split costs with friends or family to survive.
But economic recovery is not as simple as government mandating that people be paid more, because the question is not so much “how much money do you make” but rather, “how much does your money buy” that determines success.
A few years ago, pre-pandemic, one legislator thinking...
The Justice Department announced Friday International Business Machines Corp. will pay more than $17 million to resolve allegations that it violated anti-discrimination requirements in its federal...