- February 11, 2018
- Hawaiʻi Appleseed
- Honolulu Star-Advertiser
In January 2015, Hawaii’s minimum wage increased by 50 cents in the first of four annual increases that have lifted the floor on hourly pay here to the current rate, $10.10. State lawmakers are now weighing whether it should be bumped up again — but there’s more cause for caution today than there was in the minimum-wage debate four years ago.
Senate Bill 2291 would raise the wage to $12.25 next January, and to $15 in 2020.
Supporters of the push toward the $15-mark (roughly $30,000 annually for a full-time employee) assert that bigger paychecks could help workers make financial ends meet and boost the economy by giving some consumers more money to spend.